The truth is schools can only do so much. They are governed by the ‘80:20 rule’: on average 80 per cent of the variation in children’s school results is due to individual and family characteristics, while the remaining 20 per cent is due to what happens in school.25 Some schools excel by producing better results with very similar intakes of children. But the idea that teachers on their own can cancel out extreme inequalities outside the school gates is fanciful.
