Identifying shared priorities for action to ensure the educational success of Service children, and to better enable their progression through further and higher education into thriving adult lives and careers

Abstract: The Service Children’s Progression Alliance (SCiP) commissioned Tiller Research Ltd to undertake a consultation exercise with existing and potential stakeholders. The research objective was to inform the strategic priorities of the SCiP Alliance by identifying the services, activities and opportunities that would enable practitioners to further support the educational success and progression of Service children. The consultation was undertaken in three phases. An online questionnaire received 172 stakeholder responses, of which half were from practitioners currently working in a school; a quarter were from other education stakeholders (University, FE College, etc.); a quarter were from other stakeholder perspectives (e.g. charities, local authorities, MoD). Telephone interviews were subsequently undertaken with 30 stakeholders to explore their perspective in more depth. Finally, a workshop involving 32 participants explored the preliminary findings of the consultation to refine the key themes, and identify how the SCiP Alliance should respond.  Three quarters of respondents overall (76%) either ‘completely’ or ‘mostly’ agreed that “Service children’s experiences can have an impact on their education that is significantly different from the challenges and opportunities experienced by other groups”. Those with more experience of working with Service children were more likely to agree with this statement. This may indicate that, for those unfamiliar with this cohort, there is a need for raising awareness about the experiences of Service children and how this may impact on their educational progression.