Parental involvement in children's education

BMRB Social Research were commissioned by the DCSF to conduct a survey of 5032 parents and carers of children of school age, in order to examine parental involvement in children’s education. This follows on from surveys in 2001 and 2004.

Key points:
- Around half (51%) of parents felt very involved in their child’s school life: this is an increase from 29% in 2001, to 38% in 2004 to 51% in the 2007 survey.
- Women, parents with young children, parents who left full-time education later, those from Black or Black British backgrounds and parents of a child with a Statement of SEN were all more likely than average to feel very involved. Lone parents and non-resident parent were less likely to feel very involved.
- Work commitments were the main barrier to greater involvement.
- Parents are now more likely to see a child’s education as mainly or wholly their responsibility (28%). This represents a shift from previous years, when parents were more likely to see it as the school’s responsibility.
- Nearly all parents (96%) agreed that it was extremely important to make sure that their child attended school regularly and on time.
- Around three in four of all parents felt that it was extremely important to help with their child’s homework.
- Informal discussions with school staff were seen as the most useful way of finding out about children’s progress in school (28% found them the most useful method). In previous years of the survey, parents’ evenings had been seen as the most useful means of communication.