Labour has inherited an education system “beset by inequalities”, a report has warned, after research found poorer pupils are now over 19 months behind their better-off peers by the end of secondary school.
Analysis of exams data by the Education Policy Institute found the disadvantage gap for both primary and secondary school pupils has widened since pre-pandemic 2019, and now stands at its largest since at least 2012.
The think tank warned the new Labour government had “inherited an education system beset by inequalities, with some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable young people continuing to fall behind their peers”.
The disadvantage gap had been narrowing before Covid struck, though progress had already started to stall by 2019.
The pandemic accelerated that trend, and the disadvantage gap has widened since 2019 in early years, primary and secondary schools.
By the end of key stage 2, poorer pupils are 10.3 months behind their better-off peers, an increase of one month since 2019.
The gap at the end of key stage 4 is now 19.2 months, 1.1 months larger than in 2019.
‘Adopt evidence-based policies’
EPI chief executive Natalie Perera said: “If the new government is to make real progress in tackling these inequalities it must adopt evidence-based policies and interventions with urgency.
“These should include higher levels of funding targeted towards disadvantaged pupils and a cross-government child poverty strategy to tackle the root causes of educational inequalities.”
Disadvantaged 16-19 year olds were 3.2 grades behind their peers across their best three subjects in 2023. This is “similar to the level in 2019, but down from 2022, when the gap was 3.5 grades”.
Among persistently disadvantaged pupils, the gap is now 22.9 months at the end of secondary school and 11.6 months at the end of primary.
Attainment gaps have narrowed since 2019 for older pupils with SEND, the report found, but the gap “has widened among reception-aged pupils to its widest on record for both children on SEN support and those with EHCPs”.
Paul Whiteman, of the NAHT leaders’ union, called the disadvantage gap a “national tragedy”.
“Teachers and school leaders work hard to support pupils, but they alone cannot address the deep-rooted causes of poverty, and its consequences, including the damage it does to children’s learning and their attendance at school.”
Attainment and child poverty strategy needed
The new government “should publish a strategy setting out how it will address attainment gaps for vulnerable groups”, EPI said. This strategy should “clarify the government’s level of ambition regarding educational inequalities”.
Ministers should also “assess the adequacy of disadvantage funding across all phases”. In particular, there should be “higher levels of funding for the disadvantaged, weighted more heavily towards persistently disadvantaged pupils”.
They should also introduce a “student premium” in the 16 to 19 phase.
There remains a “pressing need for a child poverty strategy”. This should recognise “that the social determinants of educational inequalities – such as poverty, housing, healthcare, transport, and many other aspects of daily life – cannot be addressed by schools in isolation or even any one government department”.
There also “remains a need to provide more effective support for children with SEND, especially for younger children”. There is also a need for a “greater understanding of changes in the types of need identified in recent years, and how support for young people should adapt accordingly”.
