Choice and competition in education have found growing support from both policy makers and academics in the recent past. Yet, evidence on the actual benefits of market-oriented reforms is at best mixed. Moreover, while the economic rationale for choice and competition is clear, in existing work...

We explore the association between urban density and pupil attainment using three cohorts of pupils in schooling in England. Although as widely recognised attainment in dense urban places is low on average, this is not because urban environments disadvantage pupils, but because the most...