Sight impaired at age seven: secondary analysis of the Millennium Cohort Survey. Experiences of school and learning
1. Introduction
The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is a longitudinal survey of 19,000 children born in 2000. It covers a variety of topics including the children's health, wellbeing, behaviour, education and social experiences.In 2012 the Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB), with RNIB as partner organisation, commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to carry out statistical analysis of the MCS with the aim of identifying children at the age of seven with a sight impairment and comparing their experiences with those of the other children in the survey who did not have a sight impairment.The findings presented here focus on findings related to children's experiences of school and education. They draw on information collected from nearly 14,000 children aged seven (357 with sight impairment and 13,500 without), their parents and their teachers.
2. Method
Children in the survey were defined as having a sight impairment that affected their day-to-day functioning if:
- their parent reported a sight related impairment and the impairment limited the amount or kind of activities that the child could do,
- and/orthe parent reported that the child was registered with the local authority or had been offered registration because of low vision,
- and/or the parent reported that the child received additional support in the classroom because of ‘a problem with sight’,
- and/or the parent reported that the child had a Statement of SEN because of ‘a problem with sight’,
- and/or their class teacher reported that the child received additional support or had a SEN because of ‘a problem with sight’.
A total of 357 children with sight impairment were identified, over half of whom had another disability or special educational need.
The question topics selected for analysiswere primarily those relating to the children's wellbeing. These included their emotional wellbeing, friends and social relationships, experiences of school, and whether their family was experiencing financial hardship.
Because other research has identified differences in outcomes for children whose sight impairment is their only disability/special educational need compared to children with a sight impairment and anadditional disability/special educational need, the analysis looked at 3 groups of children with sight impairment:
- Sight impairment only
- Sight impairment plus additional impairment
- All children with sight impairment (i.e. both groups combined)
Tests for statistical significance compared children with sight impairment (with and without additional impairment) with children with no sight impairment. In the findings reported here we have concentrated on statistically significant differences.
3. Key findings from the research
3.1 Finding 1: Effect of having an additional impairment
There were clear differences between children with a sight impairment (with or without an additional impairment) and children with no sight impairment on a number of variables, indicating different experiences of school and different levels of attainment between these two groups. A notable finding however, was that for children with sight impairment and another impairment the differences were often greater and applied to a greater number of variables.
3.2Finding 2: Enjoyment of school
Child's perspective: while over half of children with a sight impairment only and children with no sight impairment said they liked school 'a lot', children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment were more likely to say they did not like school. 28% of children with a sight impairment and another impairment did not like school, compared to 15% with no sight impairment and 16% with sight impairment only.
Children with sight impairment (with or without other impairment) were no more or less likely than children with no sight impairment to feel unhappy at school, get fed up with school, or feel left out at school.
Parent's perspective: while most parents were likely to say that their children 'always' or 'usually' enjoyed school, parents of children with sight impairment (with or without additional impairment) were less likely than parents of children with no sight impairment to say they 'always' enjoy school. 60% of parents of children with sight impairment only and 56% with sight impairment and another impairment said their child 'always' enjoyed school compared to 64%parents of children with no sight impairment.
3.3 Finding 3: Answering questions in class
Child's perspective: while just under half (48%) of children with a sight impairment only and children with no sight impairment said they liked answering questions in class 'a lot', children with sight impairment and an additional impairment were significantly more likely than children with no impairment to say they didnot like answering questions in class. 31% of children with sight impairment and additional impairment did not like answering questions in class compared to 13% of children with no sight impairment and 15% with a sight impairment only.
3.4 Finding 4: Child believes teacher thinks s/he is clever
Child's perspective: perhaps linked to the previous finding, children with sight impairment and another impairment were less likely than children with no sight impairment to believe that their teacher thought they were clever. 13% of children with sight impairment and another impairment said that their teacher 'never' thought they were clever compared with only 4% of children with no sight impairment and 5% of children with sight impairment only.
3.5Finding 5: Reading
Child's perspective: a positive finding was that one in two children with sight impairment only said they liked reading a lot. However, children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment were more likely than children without sight impairment to say they did not like reading: 23% comparedto 11% of children with no sight impairment and 17% of children with sight impairment only.
Parent's perspective: parents of children with sight impairment (with orwithout an additional impairment) were significantly more likely than parents of children with no sight difficulty to say that their child had 'some' or'great' difficulty in reading:
Some difficultyGreat difficulty
Sight impairment only: 37%8%
Sight & another impairment:46%30%
No sight impairment:21%4%
Teacher's perspective: teachers were significantly more likely to say that the reading level of children with sight impairment (with or without additional difficulty) was below, or well below average:
Below averageWell below average
Sight impairment only: 17% 10%
Sight & another impairment:35%37%
No sight impairment:14%4%
3.6 Finding 6: Writing
Parent's perspective: parents of children with sight impairment (with or without additional impairment) were significantly more likely than parents of children with no sight impairment to say that their child had 'some' difficulty with writing. Parents of children with sight impairment and another impairment were significantly more likely to say their child had great difficulty with writing:
Some difficultyGreat difficulty
Sight impairment only: 39% 4%
Sight & another impairment:42%33%
No sight impairment:25%4%
Teacher's perspective: teachers' shared a similar view to parents of the writing level of children with sight impairment and another impairment. Teachers were significantly more likely to say that the writing level of pupils with sight impairment and additional impairment was 'below' or 'well below' average compared to pupils with no sight impairment:
Below averageWell below average
Sight impairment only: 17% 10%
Sight & another impairment:52%36%
No sight impairment:21%5%
3.7 Finding 7: Mathematics
Child's perspective: while around half of all children (with and without sight impairment) said they liked number work 'a lot', children with sight impairment and additional impairment were significantly more likely than children with no impairment to say that they did not like number work: 22% compared to 15% of children with no sight impairment and 13% with sight impairment only.
Parent's perspective: parents of children with sight impairment and another impairment were significantly more likely than parents of children with no sight impairment to say that their child had 'some' or 'great' difficulty with maths:
Some difficultyGreat difficulty
Sight impairment only: 34% 3%
Sight & another impairment:42%25%
No sight impairment:27%3%
Teacher's perspective: according to their teachers, one in 10 children with sight impairment only and with no sight impairment were 'well above average' at maths. However, teachers were also significantly more likely to rate children with sight impairment and additional impairment as 'below' or 'well below' average at maths compared to children with no sight impairment:
Below averageWell below average
Sight impairment only: 23%5%
Sight & another impairment:38%28%
No sight impairment:14%3%
3.8 Finding 8: Science
Child's perspective: while over half of all children (with and without sight impairment) said they liked science 'a lot', children with sight impairment and additional impairment were significantly more likely to say that they did not like science: 23% compared to 16% of children with no sight impairment and 12%of children with sight impairment only.
Teacher's perspective: according to their teachers, just over one in 20 children with sight impairment only and with no sight impairment were 'well above average' at science. However, teachers were also significantly more likely to rate children with sight impairment and additional impairment as 'below' or 'well below' average at science compared to children with no sight impairment:
Below averageWell below average
Sight impairment only: 17% 4%
Sight & another impairment:37%18%
No sight impairment:9%2%
3.9 Finding 9: Physical education (PE)
Child's perspective: while around three quarters of children with sight impairment only and children with no sight impairment said they liked PE 'a lot', fewer children with sight impairment and another impairment liked it a lot (62%). Children with sight impairment and another impairment were also significantly more likely than children with no sight impairment to say they did not like PE: 15% compared to 7% with no sight impairment and 4% with sight impairment only.
Parent's perspective: while the majority of parents said that their children had 'no difficulty' with PE, significantly fewer parents of children with sight impairment (with and without additional impairment) did so compared to parents of children with no sight difficulty. Parents of children with sight impairment and another impairment were significantly more likely to say their child had 'some' or 'great difficulty': 29% compared to 6% of parents whose children had no sight impairment and 11% of parents of children with sight impairment only.
Teacher's perspective: only 1% of children with sight impairment only were rated as 'well above average' at PE compared to 5% of children with no sight impairment. No children with sight impairment and another impairment were 'well above average'. Children with sight impairment and another impairment were however, significantly more likely to be rated as 'well below average' at PE: 15% compared to only 1% of children with sight loss only and 1% of children with no sight loss.
3.10 Finding 10: Bullying
Child's perspective: children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment were significantly more likely than children without a sight impairment to say they were bullied at school 'all of the time'. One in five (21%) of children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment said they were bullied at school all of the time compared with 11% of children with a sight impairment only and 8% of children with no impairment.
Children with a sight impairment and an additional impairment were twice as likely as children without a sight impairment to say they 'never' felt safe in the playground. 12% of children with a sight impairment and another impairment said they 'never' felt safe in the playground compared to 5% with no sight impairment and 6% with a sight impairment only.
Parent's perspective: parents of children with sight impairment (with and without an additional impairment) were significantly more likely to say that their child was bullied at school. One in 2 (51%) of parents of children with sight impairment only, 59% of parents of children with sight impairment and an additional impairment and 67% of parents of children with no sight impairment said their child was never bullied at school. 12% of parents of children with sight impairment only, 18% of parents of children with sight impairment and an additional impairment, and 7% of parents of children with no sight impairment said their child had been bullied 'several' or 'many' times at school.
Teacher's perspective: on the whole, teachers seemed less likely than parents to consider that children were being bullied. However, they were significantly more likely to consider that children with sight impairment (with and without additional impairment) were being bullied compared to children with no sight impairment. 13% of teachers of children with sight impairment only, and16% of teachers of children with sight impairment and an additional impairment said it was 'somewhat' or 'certainly' true that the child was bullied compared to 7% of teachers of children with no sight impairment.
4. Conclusions
There were clear differences between children with a sight impairment (with or without an additional impairment) and children with no sight impairment on a number of variables, indicating different experiences of school and different levels of attainment between these two groups. For example, children with sight impairment were more likely to be experiencing difficulties with reading and writing than children with no sight impairment. There were also indications that a higher proportion may have been experiencing greater difficulties with maths and science although these differences did not reach statistical significance.
A notable finding however, was that for children with sight impairment and another impairment the differences were often greater and applied to a greater number of variables. Children with sight impairment and another impairment were more likely to dislike school, to not like answering questions in class and to believe that their teacher 'never' thought they were clever. They were more likely to say they were bullied at school all of the time and to never feel safe in the playground. They were more likely to dislike reading, number work, science and PE. This dislike appears to be reflected in parent and teacher assessments of their academic attainment, with children in this group more likely to be experiencing difficulties with reading, writing, maths, science and PE and to be rated by their teachers as below or well below average at these subjects.
These findings reflect the findings from analysis of national pupil data, which has found that the progress and attainment of children with sight impairment lags behind that of children with no special educational needs, but that the gap is far wider for children with sight impairment combined with an additional SEN.
Further research is needed to understand to what extent these differences may be attributable to the developmental effects of sight or other impairment;the effects of different levels of severity of sight impairment; what role is played by social and economic disadvantage; and to identify best educational practice in ameliorating these effects. Further work is also urgently needed to address the particular problems of children with sight and other impairment in relation to bullying and other negative experiences of school and their impact on the development of a positive sense of self worth.
5. Further information
The full research report can be downloaded from:
For further information contact
© RNIB 2013
ESI Research briefing1