The Assessment: Education
以人力资本理论为框架，综述教育经济学研究如何影响教育政策设计，讨论教育投资对个人生产力和社会的回报，并指出英国教育体系在提升学生成绩的同时未能实现机会平等，可能加剧社会经济不平等。
Research on the economics of education increasingly influences the design of education policy. The framework for the analysis is provided by human capital theory, in which education is interpreted as an investment, raising the future productivity of the individual and bringing other private and social benefits. Estimates of the private and social returns to education, and of the effectiveness of schools and teachers, can be used to guide the allocation of resources within the public sector; in addition, policy reforms in the UK have attempted to make public providers of education more responsive to the preferences of parents and students. There is evidence that pupil attainment has risen in recent years, but that the education system fails to provide equality of access or opportunity and may reinforce social and economic inequality.