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Against a background of research and national statistics that consistently show that educational participation and achievement of young people in and leaving care is significantly lower than is the case for the non‐care population, previous research has shown the positive impact that social, leisure and informal learning activities can have on the educational participation and achievements of young people, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The UK: Care Matters Green Paper stated that involvement in leisure and social activities can have a positive impact on the self‐esteem of young people in and leaving care and upon their educational attainment and later success in the labour market. This paper reports on the English results of a cross‐national study of young people from a public care background and their pathways to education in Europe. Using case study examples it explores the impact that social, leisure and informal learning activities can have on educational participation and educational pathways of young people in and leaving care. The paper argues that, in view of these findings, encouraging and supporting young people in and leaving care into these types of activities should be a priority for social care professionals, carers and teachers.

An era of financial constraints calls for effective and efficient committee work when making collective decisions. A systematic search identified research literatures in business administration, health research and service development, and social psychology addressing decision making about highly technical issues by mixed groups of people. Existing empirical and theoretical syntheses were drawn together to identify learning about the structure, processes and environment of committees and the characteristics of effective chairing. Committee performance depends upon the individuals involved, their attributes and relationships; and the time available for a committee to explore their knowledge to make choices or solve problems. In general, groups with six to twelve members tend to perform better than those in either smaller or larger groups, especially when relying on virtual communication. Diverse groups take account of a range of opinions and enhance credibility and widespread acceptance and implementation of decisions but may be more difficult to convene and manage appropriately. However, where chairs manage conflict constructively, more varied membership leads to better performance and more reliable judgements. These small-scale interactions reflect the larger scale institutional relationships, hierarchies and cultures which act as a backdrop to committee activities. These findings suggest that effective committee performance is enhanced by: appointing members from all key stakeholder groups who between them bring the appropriate range in educational and functional background, while keeping the group size close to 6-12; appointing committee chairs for their facilitation skills and generalist background rather than specialist knowledge; allowing sufficient time to allow all relevant knowledge to be shared and evaluated through discussion, especially when judgements need to be made by committees with members who vary in status; applying formal consensus development processes; and, particularly when working virtually, considering the challenges of developing trust and cohesion, and integrating divergent perspectives. Collective deliberation and decision-making processes involving people with differing backgrounds are central to most policy and governance decisions. Making collective decisions commonly involves convening and managing small decision-making groups such as committees or boards for the task. These include advisory bodies, groups and committees in the public, commercial and charitable sectors. Although decision-making groups vary in their terms of reference and their terminology, the generic terms 'committee' and 'board' share similar meanings: a committee being a body of people 'appointed or elected (by a

Coleman's focal theory, developed in relation to adolescents in the general population, appears to offer some explanation for the poor educational achievement and social exclusion of care leavers, but has been little tested empirically. This paper revisits data from two studies of care-experienced young people aged 18 -25, drawing on qualitative interviews in the UK and four other European countries, to see if focal theory would have helped to predict their educational progression or otherwise. The lives of research participants were found to be characterised by disruptions and uncertainty, with multiple challenges confronting them in quick succession, making it hard for them to pace their transitions as, according to focal theory, other young people do. Findings suggest that the theory could be used to inform policy designed to improve educational outcomes and should be incorporated into training for those responsible for supporting care leavers through their transition to adulthood.

Young people who have spent all or part of their childhoods in public care are at particular risk of social exclusion as adults and yet the pathway out of exclusion identified by policy-makers at both European and national levels, namely, education, is very difficult to access. Using data from a five-country study of the post-compulsory educational pathways of young people in public care, this paper examines the rates of participation of young people in further and higher education and considers what might account for the gap, looking at two factors: the impact of background social class on educational support and the educational intentions and practices of the care system. The paper concludes by considering the policy context and some possible tensions between policy aims and young people's contexts and experiences. IntroductionYoung people who have spent all or part of their childhoods in public care are at particular risk of social exclusion as adults. Educational participation is positioned by policy-makers across Europe as a key route to social inclusion through the acquisition of knowledge and skills that enable employment. The scope for young people from a public care background to make use of this route is the theme of this paper, which draws on data from a five-country EU-funded study between 2008 and 2010, called YiPPEE, an acronym for 'Young People from a public care background: pathways to education in Europe'. The partner countries were Denmark, Hungary, Spain, Sweden and the UK, 1 and were chosen to represent differing welfare regimes and so to illuminate factors that are comparable or different in relation to the target group of young people from public care backgrounds. The study investigated the experiences of young men and women who were in public care as children and the facilitators and barriers to educational participation. 'Public care' was the term used to capture state responsibility for young people where their birth parents were not able to do so. The study was concerned with young people's participation in all formal post-compulsory education programmes available in their countries but with a particular emphasis on tertiary education. It involved interviews with 36 managers in social services responsible for young people in public care,