This symposium explores the relationships between education, inequality and social cohesion in different social contexts through comparative analysis involving both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The first two papers are primarily concerned with the determinants of inequality and specifically with the effects of educational structures on inequalities in achievements. The third paper explores the impact of student and school characteristics (including peer effects) on the formation of inequalities. It also investigates the possible effects of stratification. Finally, the fourth paper uses qualitative techniques to explore the effect of economic and cultural experiences of inequalities on social cohesion via active citizenship. The papers all utilise cross-national comparative analyses on achievements and social outcomes. However, the approaches to comparative analysis vary. The first paper makes use of existing indicators to identify how countries cluster on various measures of educational equality. It then uses qualitative logical modes of comparative analysis to identify education system characteristics which may be associated with higher or lower levels of inequality within country groups. In the second paper factor analysis is used to identify different models of school organisation and multivariate analysis is used to explore relationships between school characteristics and educational outcomes. Paper three uses multilevel regressions to identify the impact of student background, peer quality and school characteristics on performance scores in five countries representative of the typologies of education systems identified in paper one and two (The UK, Germany, Finland, Italy and Japan). This paper uses the OECD’s PISA data. The forth paper draws empirically and theoretically on a LLAKES research project on experiences and perceptions of inequalities. This project utilizes data derived from different education settings (e.g. lower and upper secondary, higher education) in five European countries. The particular focus of the paper will be set on the way interviewees attempt to interrogate, justify, explain, criticize or accept experiences and/or perceptions of inequalities. The papers explore similar themes and draw on similar kinds of country level data in seeking to explain cross-national variations. Their conclusions, in relation to the system factors impacting on inequality and the relation between equality and social cohesion, are broadly congruent. However, their distinctive approaches give an insight into the strengths and limitations of different comparative methods, and into the explanatory power that can be achieved through a combination of analytical strategies. The papers are based on recent research conducted in two collaborating research centres in England and France. The first, third and fourth papers draw on research conducted at the Centre for Research on Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES) which is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The second paper draws on research for the EDESCO project funded by the French Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR). The symposium will encourage maximum interaction between panelists and the audience through allowing substantial time for discussion after each PowerPoint presentation. The discussant at the end will bring together a review of the papers and of the audience discussion.