Different for girls? An exploration of the impact of Playing for Success

Abstract

Playing for Success is a national initiative aimed at providing study support for underachieving young people. Based in football grounds, it uses the medium and environment of football as a motivating force. A few commentators have raised questions about the initiative in relation to equality of opportunity, suggesting that girls and pupils from ethnic minorities may be disadvantaged by the initiative’s association with football. The NFER completed the second national evaluation of the initiative in 2001. This paper presents evidence showing that Playing for Success is equally beneficial for girls and boys, and for pupils from different ethnic backgrounds.

Keywords:

• underachieving pupils
• study support
• gender and ethnic disadvantage