Greater Expectations: Enabling Achievement for Disadvantaged Students

How can greater expectations lead to greater outcomes for schools and the students they teach?

The London Academy of Excellence (LAE), Newham, is one of the leading sixth-form schools in the UK. The LAE’s mission is to combat disadvantage by providing ambitious young people from lower-income homes with an education on a par with the best available in the independent sector.

In its first decade, the LAE sent over 1,300 students to Russell Group universities, over 200 to medical schools and more than 150 to Oxford or Cambridge. Most of those students were the first in their family to attend a university.

The authors sift through the school's practices to reveal universal concepts and ideas that school leaders, in any context, can consider for their own schools. These ideas include:

• Understanding the curriculum as a source of social mobility
• Planning for high quality destinations from first contact with prospective students 
• Exploring challenge strategies to achieve academic excellence across subjects