Understanding the interface between local housing markets and education markets: children's travel to school
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Town and Regional Planning
Abstract
The journeys that children make to school symbolise some of the fundamental tensions that exist in urban societies. Parents value choice in their children's education and the freedom to apply to schools in other neighbourhoods. At the same time, however, homeowners also appreciate the value that comes from having a good neighbourhood school near to them. The result in many cities is a complex web of daily journeys to school adding to congestion, environmental degradation and health problems. In Sheffield alone, it is estimated that children travel over 145,000 extra kilometres every day as a result of not going to the nearest school, producing something like 1,400 tons of extra CO2 a year. Levels of car use for the school run are at an all time high, causing public health professionals to worry about an obesity epidemic among school children.
There is clearly a delicate balance between policies aimed at improving educational choice and those aimed at reducing congestion or reducing the need to travel. The contemporary market for owner-occupied housing has a key role in this: access to good schools is something that increasingly drives the local housing market and causes significant house price differences between different parts of the city. Yet if demand for travel to school was minimised and every child went to his or her nearest school, that would amplify the housing market's role in educational outcomes, leading to a situation of school 'choice by mortgage' which is unfair for families on lower incomes.
Local planners and education officials in Sheffield, as in other cities, are faced with a dilemma as the impacts of housing and transport policy and school choice programmes pull against each other by leading to increases in school trips and distance. To address this dilemma they need an analysis of travel behaviour that recognises the complexity of the relationship between schools, neighbourhoods and housing, and the demand for travel at a variety of geographic scales (at the neighbourhood level and also across the city). Traditional models tell policymakers a lot about many of these factors in isolation and at a single geographic scale, but it is difficult to add them all together to determine the best policy: one that balances educational and environmental outcomes in a fair way.
This project will analyse anonymous data on pupils' home addresses, where they go to school, and how they get there. By doing so, a model that is able to look simultaneously at characteristics of the neighbourhood, the housing market, and school choice will be constructed. This model will sit at the centre of a toolkit that can be used by analysts to estimate the travel-to-school implications of changes to housing planning and education policies in the city. This will allow local policymakers to make an objective assessment of the impact of different housing market and school characteristics on travel to school and therefore design housing and access to education policies that are fairer for everybody while protecting the environment and reducing congestion.
There is clearly a delicate balance between policies aimed at improving educational choice and those aimed at reducing congestion or reducing the need to travel. The contemporary market for owner-occupied housing has a key role in this: access to good schools is something that increasingly drives the local housing market and causes significant house price differences between different parts of the city. Yet if demand for travel to school was minimised and every child went to his or her nearest school, that would amplify the housing market's role in educational outcomes, leading to a situation of school 'choice by mortgage' which is unfair for families on lower incomes.
Local planners and education officials in Sheffield, as in other cities, are faced with a dilemma as the impacts of housing and transport policy and school choice programmes pull against each other by leading to increases in school trips and distance. To address this dilemma they need an analysis of travel behaviour that recognises the complexity of the relationship between schools, neighbourhoods and housing, and the demand for travel at a variety of geographic scales (at the neighbourhood level and also across the city). Traditional models tell policymakers a lot about many of these factors in isolation and at a single geographic scale, but it is difficult to add them all together to determine the best policy: one that balances educational and environmental outcomes in a fair way.
This project will analyse anonymous data on pupils' home addresses, where they go to school, and how they get there. By doing so, a model that is able to look simultaneously at characteristics of the neighbourhood, the housing market, and school choice will be constructed. This model will sit at the centre of a toolkit that can be used by analysts to estimate the travel-to-school implications of changes to housing planning and education policies in the city. This will allow local policymakers to make an objective assessment of the impact of different housing market and school characteristics on travel to school and therefore design housing and access to education policies that are fairer for everybody while protecting the environment and reducing congestion.
Planned Impact
Travel to school and school choice are topical issues that affect millions of UK households. Education and housing market decisions are among the most important that are made by households, who are able to exercise varying levels of autonomy, and deploy varying levels of resource. In most cases, households have to trade off aspects of housing and schooling in the decisions they make. National and local policy on education and also transport and spatial planning (e.g. the location of new housing) have the capacity to influence these decisions and their impacts in fundamental ways. Local policy decisions about housing location, schools provision, and admissions criteria can have significant impacts on householders' mobility decisions and the life chances of children.
The main users of the research in the short and medium term will be local and national policy users. Specifically, these include those with responsibility for policies that affect school infrastructure and allocations policies; planning for new housing and transport; urban design; and social cohesion. Policy users at the local and national level have identified the research need, have been engaged in the design of the proposal and will continue to be involved throughout the project through the specification and refinement of interim and final outputs.
Over the long term it is intended that an improved understanding of the relationship between local housing and education markets, and of the effect of planning and education policies on them, will lead to decisions that reduce congestion and social inequalities and enhance life chances and environmental quality. Over the longer term (e.g. through new policy implementation and as changes in household behaviour begin to 'bite') these will contribute to beneficial impacts for a wide range of groups, including:
- families with school-age children (reduced travel costs; better educational outcomes)
- schoolchildren (more active lifestyles; better health; better educational outcomes)
- local businesses (less road network congestion)
- general residents (less environmental degradation)
The main users of the research in the short and medium term will be local and national policy users. Specifically, these include those with responsibility for policies that affect school infrastructure and allocations policies; planning for new housing and transport; urban design; and social cohesion. Policy users at the local and national level have identified the research need, have been engaged in the design of the proposal and will continue to be involved throughout the project through the specification and refinement of interim and final outputs.
Over the long term it is intended that an improved understanding of the relationship between local housing and education markets, and of the effect of planning and education policies on them, will lead to decisions that reduce congestion and social inequalities and enhance life chances and environmental quality. Over the longer term (e.g. through new policy implementation and as changes in household behaviour begin to 'bite') these will contribute to beneficial impacts for a wide range of groups, including:
- families with school-age children (reduced travel costs; better educational outcomes)
- schoolchildren (more active lifestyles; better health; better educational outcomes)
- local businesses (less road network congestion)
- general residents (less environmental degradation)
Publications
Easton S
(2015)
Featured graphic. Parental 'choice' and sociospatial segregation in a UK city: access to the best state-funded secondary schools for Black Somali pupils
in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Easton S
(2015)
Children's travel to school-the interaction of individual, neighbourhood and school factors
in Transport Policy
| Description | This project has met its original objectives of exploring the interface between local housing and education 'markets' through an analysis of children's travel to school. The key findings arising from the project are: - There are key socioeconomic determinants of school travel distance and mode. Less than half of school children in the case study city travelled to their nearest appropriate school. - Children's choice of mode of travel cannot be explained solely by distance travelled to school. The socioeconomic background of the child, as measured through a range of individual and neighbourhood characteristics, plays an important role in explaining how children get to school as well as which schools they attend. - Children from more deprived backgrounds face non-trivial transport hurdles if they wish to access 'better' schools, in the form of significantly increased travel distances and lesser potential to use active forms of travel. - The promotion of school choice over several decades can be seen to have contributed to a variegated pattern of access to school and travel patterns. The hypothesis of 'choice by mortgage', in which parental strategies for school admissions centre on residential mobility and house purchase decisions, is partly borne out in that children attending the 'best' schools disproportionately live locally to them. - The 'porosity' of school catchment areas varies by school type and performance (e.g. Key Stage results). Most neighbourhoods are in practice served by a complex set of overlapping 'de facto' catchments. There is a correlation between average neighbourhood house prices and the number of overlapping catchments for the 'best' schools. Residents living in neighbourhoods with higher than average measures of socioeconomic status among their residents have a larger number of 'better' schools to choose from. This agglomeration of 'good' schools is likely to better explain socioeconomic polarisation of neighbourhoods within cities over the long term than simple reference to singular 'good' schools. - Models of the influence of education provision on the housing market do not take sufficiently account of the complex pattern of school attendance and the generally 'loose' spatial relation between school and home. The fact that the majority of children do not attend their nearest school, and that spatial patterns have a clear socioeconomic basis, have implications for hedonic models of the housing market as well as the construction of measures of deprivation at the small area level. |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings and the key modelling infrastructure that we developed (namely, network models of motorised and active transport infrastructure in Sheffield, together with documented methods; and a multi level model of transport choice) remain available for further development within academia or by the public sector. Should a local education authority wish to consider carefully the spatial and travel impacts of changes to school provision or, our model provides a useful (and demonstrably feasible) starting point. We have also developed a refined technique -- drawing on established literature -- for defining the 'de facto' catchment areas of schools based on individual level data on school attendance as well as travel costs/distance. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Transport |
| URL | http://www.traveltoschoolproject.org.uk |
| Description | The project, the issues it addressed, and its findings have been widely publicised in professional, policy and public media. It is likely too early to gauge whether the project will have a substantive impact on policy or practice, although, on balance, the project is likely to have more of an impact in terms of raising awareness in the public sphere than it will in terms of direct policy change (this will be kept under ongoing review). As noted in the Key Findings, two key members of the project's research user community significantly changed their focus of policy attention during the course of the project which meant that the project findings became of less direct relevance to their immediate challenges. It is clear, however, that the research keyed into a topical concern within the region (see media reports, below) which saw the issues it raised gain significant political traction. The project aimed to widen awareness both of the substantive issues addressed by the project and their relevance to society and to individual decision making; and of social science research generally (including that funded by ESRC specifically). The key impact mechanisms were: A series of public engagement activities, including: - The University of Sheffield's 'Mobile University' initiative which aims to bring bite-size lectures on cutting-edge research topics to a general public audience within key city centre locations (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mobileuni). - Engagement with 14-16 year old school pupils through a University of Sheffield Urban Studies 'Taster Day' aimed at widening recognition about Higher Education and its research among pupils from local schools. Local and national media, including: - Double page feature interview in Sheffield Star (average readership 105,498), with online article on Sheffield Star website (average website hits 150,000 per day). Retweets to 73,600 followers of the Sheffield Star Twitter feed. - Feature interview on BBC Radio Sheffield (276,000 listeners [ RAJAR Nov 2014]) - Front page headline article in Sheffield Telegraph (total reported issue readership 64,093), together with accompanying online article (http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/education/rich-suburb-primaries-at-top-of-class-for-quality-1-6951054) - Follow up print and online feature in Sheffield Star covering key findings (http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/business-news/pupils-from-posh-suburbs-hog-sheffield-s-best-school-report-reveals-1-6948715) - Front page article in Yorkshire Times (http://www.yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/University-Of-Sheffield-To-Examine-Childrens-Travel-To-School-In-Sheffield) - Retweets of Sheffield Telegraph and Sheffield Star articles to over 1 million social media users - Coverage on rolling news bulletins (13 November 2014) on BBC local radio Professional media, including - Feature article in the widely read and influential LARIA (Local Area Research and Intelligence Association) newsletter/website - University of Sheffield website news articles aimed at professional and practitioner website visitors |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Title | Sheffield Travel to School Data 2007-2011 |
| Description | This data deposit contains the following elements: 1. DfE data on Sheffield's primary and Secondary schools for the four years from 2007-8 to 2010-11. This data includes: pupil rates (FSM, BME, SEN etc), Key Stage results for the school + English national average. Faith status of school. 2. Core 2011 census socioeconomic variables at the output area level, a tailor-made house-price index for Sheffield (constructed using Land Registry data) and several urban form variables for Sheffield (residential, cul-de-sac, junction density etc) using which a geodemographic cluster analysis for Sheffield was undertaken. 3. Shapefiles of de facto primary and secondary school catchment areas based on the core 65% of pupil intake for 2010-11 (please also see metadata notes within the shapefiles in GIS). 4. Shapefiles of the 7-category geodemographic cluster analysis created for Sheffield using the above dataset and k-means cluster analysis after Vickers (2006). The dasymmetric file shows the clusters overlaid upon a layer of residential density for Sheffield. NB It was not possible to share the core pupil database used for analysis as this was owned by Sheffield City Council and contains confidential pupil data. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Dataset has been uploaded into the UK Data Archive "ReShare" repository and is currently awaiting review, virus-checking etc. |
| URL | https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint%3A%3AView&eprintid=851550 |
| Description | Collaboration with Sheffield City Council |
| Organisation | Sheffield City Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | 1. Dr Ed Ferrari nurtured relationships with staff in the CYPF Analysis & Performance Team at Sheffield City Council at the stage of research development and so that pupil census data could be shared. 2. A joint meeting between ourselves and Sheffield City Council staff from relevant departments (school transport, education) was held in order to discuss the remit of the proposed research in further detail and extend the involvement of council staff on the advisory panel. 3. Dr S. Easton (research associate) negotiated, drafted, revised and finalised a formal contract between Sheffield City Council and the University of Sheffield in order to enable the sharing of pupil census data (which included some sensitive information). This was signed off in approx. June 2013. 4. Sue Easton worked alongside colleagues at Sheffield City Council in the Performance Analysis Team for approximately a week in order to filter and finalise the raw pupil census data ready for safe transfer. Secure transfer of the data was arranged and carried out. 5. Sue Easton carried out the data collation and checking. Merged in several sources of data to create the core databases on pupils, neighbourhoods, schools and property prices. 6. Sue Easton carried out all the analysis and modelling of the data in SPSS, GIS and other packages. 7. All Advisory Panel Groups were organised and administrated by Sue Easton. 8. Sue Easton drafted journal papers based on research results and finalised writing to submission standard jointly with Ed Ferrari. 9. Sue Easton kept Sheffield City Council staff appraised of research results through advisory panels and by email as outlined in the contract. 7. |
| Collaborator Contribution | 1. Time spent liaising/ in discussion with Dr Ed Ferrari about potential research project on travel to school and the possible sharing Sheffield pupil census data, within strict working protocols. 2. Organising staff from relevant departments such as school transport and education to attend planning meeting for the research project in order to facilitate networking, discuss the remit of the proposed research in further detail and extend the involvement of council staff from relevant sections of the council on the advisory panel. 3. The formal data-sharing agreement (based on a Materials Transfer Agreement) was presented and passed at internal council executive meeting. 4. Staff from various departments (Planning, School Transport, Education) at Sheffield City Council were invited to participate on the Research Advisory Panel, which they did by attending 3 panel meetings to discuss project progress, preliminary results and final findings. 5. Sue Easton worked alongside colleagues at Sheffield City Council in the Performance & Analysis Team for approximately a week in order to filter and finalise the raw pupil census data ready for safe transfer. Secure transfer of the data was arranged and carried out. 6. Key staff members such as Martin Fox provided critical ongoing support and information, facilitating access to supplementary data sources on schools, redirecting queries about the data and school to appropriate staff members etc at the data assembly stage. 7. Sheffield City Council staff read and commented on draft journal articles, checking (e.g. maps) for data confidentiality prior to release into the public domain. |
| Impact | Participation of Sheffield City Council staff in three advisory panel meetings. Production of two academic journal papers (submitted) on research results. Request from Sheffield City Councils for involvement of project research staff in providing up-to-date information/data on local distances to schools to feed into redesign of local school catchment areas (ongoing, 2014). |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Collaboration with Sheffield City Region Local Economic Partnership (LEP) |
| Organisation | Sheffield City Region Local Economic Partnership |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Ed Ferrari works two days per week with the LEP for 12 months as a partnership sabbatical to help develop strategic thinking in the fields of housing markets and their interface with transport policy and funding. The research developed will draw on the insights developed in the SDAI Travel to School project as well as deploying some of the network modelling methodology and datasets. This sabbatical itself is funded through HIEF Industrial Research Collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Desk space, computing and communications equipment, access to high level team members, membership of high level committee meetings |
| Impact | The outputs are confidential to the LEP and its partners at this time. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Departmental Seminar June 2014 (University of Sheffield) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Seminar was attended by approx. 20 academic staff and postgraduate students. Presentation stimulated discussion, important feedback on some specific maps and positive feedback from senior staff on my presentational style and skills. The main impacts arising from this was to inform colleagues about our research, to "bond" as an academic department (including postgrad researchers) and also to demonstrate/showcase my (junior researcher) teaching/presentation skills - with a view to participating in future teaching within the department. These are all important and valid impacts that contribute to the quality of internal departmental life, but are not options listed below. No known "external" impact would be one option. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Development of Project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The website was developed to promote public awareness of the research project and to keep interested academics up-to-date on developments. The website has been used to inform a range of audiences about the research, in conjunction with Twitter and the release of local press articles. The website has been used to upload documentation from Panel Advisory Group meetings in an easily accessible location. We have had specific queries about further academic evidence on travel to school and child health from at least one interested parent through the website which demonstrate it's reach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014 |
| URL | http://ed-ferrari.staff.shef.ac.uk/blog/ctts/ |
| Description | Housing Studies Association Conference 2014 (York) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Approx. 25 academic peers attended the presentation which stimulated a range of pertinent questions and discussion. Useful conference networking at lunchtime + after my presentation (and on journey home). I made two significant contacts through networking on the day. One with a Professor who I have remained in contact with as the possibility of some joint research was discussed. We have shared ideas and information about data resources. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://housing-studies-association.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CONFERENCE-PROGRAMME-07042014.pdf |
| Description | Interview with The Star Newspaper (Sheffield) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Myself and the P.I. Ed Ferrari gave an interview on our research project to a journalist from The Star, a significant local Sheffield newspaper. It was written up well in a double-page spread with our photo. I also used it to publicise my up-and-coming presentation on our research on the Public Engagement Bus in Sheffield Town Centre. The article stimulated some lively debate on the newspaper's website. Some people who had read the article attended the presentation on the public engagement bus. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/business/researching-impact-of-school-commute-1-6063195 |
| Description | LARIA article on school catchment areas |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | LARIA (Local Area Research and Intelligence Association) chair Neil Wholey invited us to provide a short article, with associated maps, for the LARIA website, a widely read repository of research information of interest to local authority practitioners and other professionals. Too early to say - but our response to this question may be updated in future as impacts become known. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://laria.org.uk/?p=2932 |
| Description | Live Interview for Radio Sheffield |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Toby Foster at Breakfast, BBC Radio Sheffield, 19 September 2013 Dr Ed Ferrari did a live interview on the research project. Not any obvious direct impacts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Presentation on Public Engagement Bus (Sheffield) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 10 members of the public attended my presentation on our preliminary research findings about local primary school catchment areas. The presentation - along with prior linked publicity in the local press - stimulated debate locally both on-line, on the day and with people I know locally (mostly mothers with young children). The project team gained further insight into the diversity of reasons why parents choose and children travel to the schools they do, which has been fed back into the research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.387272!/file/MobileUniversityReport.pdf |
| Description | Regional Studies Association Winter Conference 2013 (London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | 15-20 academic and policy-makers attended. The presentation stimulated question and discussion. I became aware of the Regional Studies Association's new Open Access academic journal was launched at this event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://www.regionalstudies.org/conferences/presentations/winter-conference-workshop-presentations |
| Description | Widening Participation Departmental Taster Day for 14-15 year olds |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Approx. 45 pupils attended a "taster day" at the Department of Town & Regional Planning, University of Sheffield. I gave a presentation about preliminary findings on travel to school to a high school in Sheffield, with lots of maps. I got them to participate in a bit of spontaneous primary research about why they were attending the schools they were at and how they travelled to school, how long it took etc which seemed to engage them (as an alternative to being talked at - as PM). Some interesting points were raised by the pupils such as living across two homes (pupil address data), choosing "better" schools and preferred furthest distance they would walk. Several Muslim girls in Islamic dress participated in the event/discussion. I was approached by the University's Outreach Team for schools to run a session in a primary school in a local deprived area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/faculty/social-sciences/outreach/events/previous-events/trptasterapril |