Current rates of success in the GCSE exams (taken at age 16 years in England and Wales) are particularly associated with location away from the inner cities. This paper uses aggregate data on success rates and socio-economic characteristics at the level of LEAs to assess the contributions of social, economic and schooling factors to this pattern of spatial disparity. Regression analyses indicate that the strongest influence is the spatial distribution of lone-parent families, and that rates of school absenteeism are an important intervening variable. The strength of the geographical relationship reflects the fact that British inner city areas are now distinguished more by the prevailing family structure than by their ethnic or class mix, or their level of unemployment. While high levels of (male) unemployment contribute to this situation, it is argued that more attention ought to be given to the social dimension of urban problems and policy than has been in the past 20 years.
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