Education, Education, Education (and immigration)
6/10/202629 min
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:
(00:32) The internet is abuzz with the claim that twenty-seven young migrants are hired for every British young person. We explore the truth behind this misleading claim.
(08:40) Last year two nerds made a bet on our programme. Those nerds are Substacker Sam Freedman and Maxwell Marlow from the Adam Smith Institute, and they were betting on how the government’s introduction of VAT on school fees would affect pupil numbers. The results are in…
(16:10) We revisit the topic of Welsh literacy after a raft of questions from loyal listeners. Could dual-language teaching explain Wales’ poor reading scores?
(21:53) A Maths A-Level exam was so hard it inspired 30,000 people to sign a petition. But what made it so difficult, and will it make a difference to pupils’ grades?
More or Less is the programme that looks at numbers and statistics in news and in life. We’re always looking for questions from listeners - you can contact us on moreorless@bbc.co.uk.
Guests: Maxwell Marlow - Director of Public Affairs at the Adam Smith Institute Sam Freedman - Author of ‘Comment is Freed’ Substack John Jerrim - Professor of Education and Social Statistics at University College, London Sebastian Bicen - maths YouTuber and former school maths teacher
Presenter: Tim Harford Series Producer: Tom Colls Reporter: Lizzy McNeill Producers: Nathan Gower, Josh McMinn Editor: Richard Vadon Programme Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Engineer: James Beard
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTim Harford· Host0:00
Hello, and welcome to More or Less with me, Tim Harford. This week's program lineup is something to warm the heart of Tony Blair himself. Education, education... Oh, hang on, immigration. We resolve a friendly wager between two policy wonks about what VAT on private schools would do to demand for private schooling. We revisit Welsh literacy, putting your questions to an expert. A recent A-level maths paper caused controversy for being unfair and confusing. We'll figure out what went on. But first [gentle music] certain claims floating about the internet got the attention of not one, not two, but five loyal listeners recently. Chloe, John, Steve, Sarah, and Emma all got in touch to ask about headlines such as this from the Daily Mail.
Speaker 20:51
"Twenty-seven young migrants are hired for every British youngster as youth worklessness fueled by soaring non-EU immigration, analysis reveals."
Tim Harford· Host1:01
The news articles all cite research from the right-leaning think tank, the Centre for Social Justice, or CSJ. The headline for their article is this: "Twenty-seven young non-EU migrants hired for every young Brit since 2020, analysis reveals." Our five listeners wanted to know if this ratio was reputable. Our Famous Five correspondent, Lizzie McNeill, has been taking a look. Hello, Lizzie.
Speaker 21:27
Hi, Timmy.
Tim Harford· Host1:27
No.
Speaker 21:28
Noted.