Sutton Trust
Sir Peter Lampl, Founder of the Sutton Trust and Founder of the
Education Endowment Foundation, said:
‘The attainment gap in education outcomes between low-income
students and their better-off peers has widened considerably
since the pandemic. This amounts to nothing less than a ticking
time bomb for social mobility.
‘Today's research from the IFS underscores the urgent need for
the next government to do much more for disadvantaged youngsters.
This means increasing funding for low-income pupils, access to
tutoring for the long-term, and to do more to take hunger out of
the classroom by widening eligibility for free school meals to
all pupils whose households receive Universal Credit. Coming from
a low-income background shouldn't be a barrier for children to
succeed in life.'
ASCL
Responding to a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies
(IFS), which warns that the next government will face major
challenges around education inequalities, Pepe Di'Iasio, General
Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“As this report makes clear, the need for investment in closing
the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers
has never been more apparent. Despite the best efforts of
schools, they are fighting against deeply ingrained social
inequalities in our country which have been exacerbated by the
impact of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. Children are
not in a fit state to learn when they are cold, hungry and live
in inadequate housing, or where special educational needs are not
met because the system is overwhelmed and underfunded; or where
access to essential social care and mental health support
services for children has been decimated. The next government
cannot continue to allow these gaps in our society to continue to
hamper the life chances of millions of children.
“As an immediate first step it must extend free school meals to
all families in receipt of Universal Credit, invest in children's
services including mental health support, and improve the level
and distribution of school funding to properly reflect the
different levels of disadvantage across the country. Above all
else, any incoming government must commit to ending the appalling
rates of child poverty in the UK and ensuring all pupils have the
opportunity to thrive at school and in later life.”
