| Summary: | The evolution of the New Towns Policy is considered and among its many goals an emphasis was placed on the improved quality of life to be gained by residents of New Towns, and the more equal distribution of life chances, compared to older areas, to be found among their populations. This thesis investigates the unsubstantiated assertion that New Town children perform better at school than those in the country at large, with regard to these two broad objectives of New Town Policy. The major determinants of educational attainment are reviewed and hypotheses are drawn up in order to evaluate whether or not New Town children do have higher educational attainments than children from a comparable area, and whether or not social differences in educational attainment are as great in the New Town as in the comparison area. Upon analysing attainment test data for several hundred primary school children and attitude survey results from their parents, the hypotheses postulating higher attainment and smaller social differences in educational attainment for the New Town children are corroborated. Possible explanations for these phenomena are then investigated on the basis of further hypotheses and a model drawn up on the basis of the result. Parental attitudes and not home amenities are found to be significantly different in the New Town from the comparison area, and it is indicated that the New Town's immigrant population may have arrived in the town with a somewhat different range of attitudes from those of the comparison population, thus accounting for some of the educational differences. However, educational attainment is also found to correlate with length of residence in the New Town, although not beyond seven years, thus indicating that the New Town enviroment may also have contributed to the children's advantage in educational attainment.
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