Inequalities in educational attainment across rural and urban locations: secondary data analysis of pupil outcomes in Northern Ireland

Using an intersectional perspective (Crenshaw, 1989; 1991) this thesis investigated the impact of urban-rural location on primary and post-primary pupils’ educational attainment outcomes in the context of Northern Ireland (NI). Given the lack of robust examinations of this issue, this study used a quantitative approach to address the absence of knowledge, incorporating secondary analysis of novel administrative data. <br><br>Multilevel (ML) analyses were conducted on data from primary and post-primary school stages to identify the impact of rural-urban location and to uncover where this factor fits within the complex web of factors already known to impact on educational outcomes.

Post-primary data was derived from a record linkage exercise undertaken by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in which the 2011 NI Census was linked to the School Leavers Survey (SLS) and the School Census (n = 61,373). Primary data was provided by Granada Learning (GL) assessment and represents the first data relating to primary pupils made available for research of this kind. These data afforded the opportunity to conduct a higher-level analysis than what has been done before by educational research in the NI context. <br><br>Pupils in rural locations are found to achieve higher attainment outcomes in maths and English subjects at both educational stages.