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ICT spend boosts pupil performance
Released 23/05/2011
A secondary school's investment in ICT resources has a direct impact on pupil performance, new research reveals
The more secondary pupils use ICT, the better they do at GCSEs
Secondary schools' investment in ICT learning resources has a significant impact on performance, according to new research.
Pupils in the 25 local education authorities with the highest per-pupil spend on ICT learning resources outperformed those in the 25 LEAs with the lowest per-pupil spend on ICT in their GCSEs.
The 25 LAs with the highest per-pupil spend on ICT, an average of £123 per pupil, saw 58% of their pupils achieving at least five A* to C Grade GCSEs or equivalent qualifications including English and maths.
By comparison, only 54.5% of pupils achieved this standard in the 25 LEAs that spent least on ICT. The national average for LEA-run secondary schools was 57%.
Commenting on the findings, Philip White, chief executive of Syscap, the finance firm that undertook the research, said: "Pupils whose local education authorities recognised the importance of sustained levels of investment in ICT did significantly better at GCSE level than those where it slipped down the priority list.
"This performance gap demonstrates the importance of ICT learning tools in helping students fulfil their potential in subjects right across the curriculum."
White suggests that technological resources available for key subjects could be an effective way of ensuring individual pupils get the level of support they need within a context of school budget cuts.
"These figures demonstrate that while ‘back to basics' might be the new education buzzword, as far as technology in schools is concerned, there can be no going back," he continued. "If investment in IT slips, so will education standards."
Only 14,035 graduates left university with a degree in computer science in 2008/09, compared to 20,205 in 2003/04, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency - a decline of 31%.
Syscap says schools' investments in ICT are crucial for the UK to retain its global competitiveness, stem the fall in computer science graduates and fill a "serious skills shortage in the IT industry".
White said "simply upping spending on ICT" is not a practical answer, given these financially difficult times. Instead, schools have to be more strategic about their ICT spending.
"There has been a tendency to buy equipment outright as and when the annual budget will allow it, but this ad hoc approach is no longer tenable," he explained.
"Spreading expenditure by paying for new ICT equipment over the course of its useful life allows schools to plan for the longer term."