Tony Blair Institute: PISA rankings hide significant and persistent inequalities within the UK

TBI Senior Education Policy Advisor Alexander Iosad said:

“This country continues to be an above-average performer, which is good news. However, this hides significant and persistent inequalities within the UK which continue to widen. And countries like Estonia, which had similar scores in 2009 now outperform us, while leaders like Singapore and Korea pull further ahead.

“We should be aiming much higher. Our education system is letting children down and leaving them unprepared for the 21st century.

“With government finances stretched, the only path to higher standards for all pupils is through embracing technology. This will enable us to teach differently and use AI and data to transform the experience of both students and teachers. For example, with a Digital Learner ID we can use real-time data to give every child a boost with personalised learning, saving teachers time so they can do more in the classroom.

“The government must urgently look at all the ways we can reimagine our system before we slip even further behind.”

Further info

In July TBI published The Future of Learning: Delivering Tech-Enabled Quality Education for Britain.