According to the first post-pandemic study of the attainment gap, low-income families have fallen behind wealthier peers except in London.
Research has revealed that the achievement gap between 16-year-olds from low-income families and their wealthier peers has widened across all regions in England since before the pandemic.
According to the Education Policy Institute (EPI) thinktank, disadvantaged students are now more than 19 months behind their classmates when they take their GCSE, and the gap has widened at every stage of their education, including age five, eleven, and sixteen.
The report compared the educational attainment of disadvantaged students and those not between 2019 and 2023. It also reveals that disadvantaged students in London continue to achieve more than students in other parts of England.
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By the time they are sixteen, students who are classified as persistently disadvantaged in England, those who qualify for free school meals at least 80% of their school days, fall even further behind their wealthier counterparts with a two-year difference.
It was called “a national tragedy” by the NAHT school leaders’ union general secretary Paul Whiteman. “These findings make for the devasting reading,” stated Russell Hobby, CEO of the nonprofit Teach First education organization. These figures don’t represent the children who, despite having the same potential as their wealthier counterparts, are wrongly prevented from realizing their full potential due to inequitable chances.
There is now a one-month difference between primary and secondary education. The disadvantage gap for 16 —to 19-year-olds remains the same as in 2019, with underprivileged students falling behind their peers by more than three grades.
The achievement gap has expanded to its greatest extent on record among students of reception age for their children in need of support, those with the added protection of education, health, and care plans, even while it narrowed among other students with special educational needs and disabilities.
According to the EPI report, the gender gap has narrowed, even if girls are still outperforming males at every school age. At 16, girls are still outperforming sixteen months ahead of boys, a decrease from six months in 2019. The EPI claims that whereas female attainment has decreased, boys’ has increased.
Natalie Perera, CEO of the EPI, stated that the report offered the first detailed post-pandemic assessment of the disadvantage gap once exams and grades mostly recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2023.
“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.”
According to Emily Hunt, the EPI’s associate director for social mobility and vulnerable, “That gaps at age five are widening across disadvantaged and vulnerable groups – as well as being at record levels for children with Send highlights the scale and breadth of challenges facing schools and the importance of the earliest years of life.”
In a related development, 87% of parents with children under five expressed concern about their children’s prospects in life in a YouGov study conducted on behalf of Unicef UK.
The poll of almost 3,000 parents revealed that 38% feared the holidays due to financial stress, and 25% had taken out loans to pay for the essentials. 63% reported that they were having mental issues as parents, and two-thirds claimed the cost of living problems had a negative impact on their family.
Joanna Rea, the head of advocacy at Unicef UK, stated, “Our findings show that families across the country are struggling. The new government must immediately prioritise support for its youngest and most vulnerable citizens, starting with ending the two-child limit policy and removing the benefit cap.”
