This literature review synthesises the findings from published reviews and key individual studies of health, nutrition and educational access with a particular emphasis on issues of gender, poverty, social exclusion and innovative practices. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the range of research designs and methods employed in these studies and the theoretical models of health and education that lie behind the studies and identifies knowledge gaps that could be filled by new empirical research. It also draws implications from the literature review for the further conceptual development of the CREATE Zones of Access model and for the design of future empirical studies paying special attention to school and community-based studies and identifying questions that could be included in household and school survey instruments.