Persistently disadvantaged pupils falling even further behind, says EPI report

In a new report, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has examined the progress made in closing the gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. The analysis considers how that gap varies across the country and how it has changed since 2007.

The report is based on data from the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database, with disadvantage referring to those entitled to Pupil Premium. Persistently disadvantaged refers to those entitled to free school meals for 80 per cent of their time at secondary school. 
 

Overall trends

Persistently disadvantaged pupils:

• The most disadvantaged pupils in England have fallen further behind their peers, and are now on average over 2 full years of learning behind non-disadvantaged pupils by the end of secondary.
• The attainment gap at the end of secondary school for these persistently disadvantaged pupils has widened slightly by 0.3 months since 2007.

Disadvantaged pupils:

• There has been some progress in closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils on average in England since 2007, which has narrowed by three months by the end of secondary.
• However, this gap is closing slowly and inconsistently – this is despite considerable investment and targeted intervention programmes by the government.
• In 2016, disadvantaged pupils were on average 19.3 months behind their peers by the time they took their GCSEs – meaning they are falling behind by around 2 months each year over the course of secondary school. From 2007 to 2016, the gap by the end of primary school has narrowed by 2.8 months and the gap by age 5 has narrowed by 1.2 months.
• At the current rate of progress it would take a full 50 years to reach an equitable education system where disadvantaged pupils did not fall behind their peers during formal education to age 16.

Regional trends

Certain regions are lagging behind others considerably when it comes to closing the gap:

• Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds face the biggest struggle in the Isle of Wight, where they are almost two and a half years (29 months) behind their peers across the country by the end of secondary.
• Other areas showing considerable gaps include Derby, Cumbria, and Knowsley (27 months), South Gloucestershire and Northumberland (26 months), and Dudley and Darlington (25 months).
• At the opposite end of the scale, more successful areas include Hackney, Islington, Newham, Rutland and Barnet, where gaps are 8 months, and Southwark, Wandsworth and Tower Hamlets, where it stands at just 7 months.

When considering areas with similar gaps at the beginning of education, and comparing how they have changed by the end of secondary, we find stark differences:

• Areas such as Darlington, Derby, Luton, South Tyneside and Thurrock are taking a step backwards with closing the gap, having performed particularly badly since 2012 compared with similar areas.
• However, several areas have been successful in improving outcomes for the disadvantaged. Rutland, Waltham Forest, Islington, Brent, Barnet, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Richmond on Thames have seen significant declines in the gap since 2012.

Opportunity Areas

• While the 12 Opportunity Areas identified by the government have growing and larger than average disadvantage gaps, we find that there are areas where the disadvantage gap has grown even faster.
• The government should consider expanding Opportunity Areas to other local authority districts which have sizeable gaps which have increased since 2012 – including Darlington, Rossendale and Boston.

Pupil characteristics

• Our analysis has also isolated certain ethnic groups falling behind.
• Black Caribbean pupils start off with average attainment but fall behind through primary and secondary school. By the end of secondary school there are very few Travellers of Irish Heritage and Gypsy / Roma pupils amongst the top 50 per cent of performers. 
• In addition to these groups, we find England’s education system also neglects those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), who to struggle to keep pace with their peers.

Commenting on the report, Jo Hutchinson, Director for Social Mobility and Vulnerable Learners at the Education Policy Institute, said:

“Our research finds that the most persistently disadvantaged pupils in England have fallen even further behind their peers, with their attainment gap at the end of secondary having grown since 2007. 

While some progress has been made with closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils overall, these pupils still fall behind at a rate of 2 months a year over secondary school. At the current rate of progress it would take a full 50 years to reach an equitable school system where disadvantaged pupils did not fall further behind their peers between the ages of 5 and 16.

"More work is needed to fully understand the origins of a persistently wide spread of education outcomes for children of different ethnic backgrounds, with English as an additional language, or with special educational needs and disabilities"

David Robinson, Director, Post-16 and Skills at the Education Policy Institute, commented:

“Our analysis finds a divide between the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and their peers, as well as a sharp distinction between different regions of England. While some areas such as London, the South, and the East, continue to make progress in narrowing the disadvantage gap, others, particularly those in rural areas, see gaps stagnating or even widening.

“The Government has made efforts to address this through targeted local interventions, including 'Opportunity Areas'. Our analysis shows however that Opportunity Areas don't always match up with places where the disadvantage gap in education is widest, meaning consideration needs to be given to expanding these interventions to areas with the highest levels of disadvantage". 

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the EPI report on trends in educational attainment and disadvantage, said:

"The findings of this report are deeply concerning but unfortunately come as no surprise. 

“If you cut school budgets and push out  teachers, as the Tories have done, then life in school will become even harder for the most disadvantaged kids. It is no wonder that we are still generations away from closing the attainment gap.

"The Tories’ key election pledge was to bring back grammas schools and segregate our children, a move that would make the situation even worse. A Labour Government would deliver an education system for the many, not the few.”