The widening gap between the educational attainment of the richest and poorest pupils at English schools is a blow for everyone who wants to see the latter fulfil their potential, and for our society to become less divided and more equal. It is revealed in the latest report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), which focuses on 2019-23, so its findings are a snapshot of the pandemic and its aftermath. While the declining achievements of children from poorer backgrounds are not a surprise, it is dismaying to see predictions about the damaging and uneven impact of Covid disruption come true.
Shrinking this gap is a longstanding objective, and one that the pupil premium – extra funding for schools with poorer intakes – was designed to further. But with the gap for 11- and 16-year-olds now bigger than at any time since 2011, a decade of progress has been wiped out. For children with special educational needs, the deterioration is even starker (though older pupils in this category are doing better). The report also adds to a concerning body of evidence about the youngest children, with poorer five-year-olds falling further behind. A recent survey of teachers found that growing numbers of reception-year pupils are not toilet-trained and struggle to play with others.
The appointment last week of Sir Kevan Collins as a schools adviser was a positive signal. His resignation in 2021, after the then prime minister Boris Johnson rejected his pandemic catch-up plan, was a low moment. Labour’s promise to recruit 6,500 teachers and open breakfast clubs – funded by taxes on private school fees – are two more steps in the right direction. Staff shortages and food poverty make life in schools far harder.
Inspection of multi-academy trusts, which is also expected to feature in the king’s speech, would have been introduced years ago were it not for market ideologues fixated on their freedoms. The same goes for rules allowing academies to sidestep the national curriculum and hire unqualified teachers. Likewise, a promised register of children not in school should already exist. While some free spirits resent state intrusion into home-schooling arrangements, the risks to children from missing out on education are too great. Councils should keep tabs, not look away and hope for the best.
While such rule changes are important, they do not guarantee improvement, just as getting more children into school is not a magic bullet. Curriculum and workforce problems have built up over years. Conservative reforms to special needs provision have been a disaster. The fact that London is an outlier, where poorer children do better, speaks to the city’s dynamism. It does not make up for weaknesses elsewhere.
A promised cross-government child poverty strategy should make a difference. The two-child limit on benefits should be lifted straight away. The EPI’s recommendation of a new funding premium for 16- to 19-year-olds should also be taken seriously. The lack of focus on alternatives to the A-level-to-university pipeline is a chronic problem, restricting the life chances of millions of young people.
Labour has ditched the levelling up brand, describing it as a gimmick. But however the new government decides to frame it, boosting the chances of less well-off children should be a core objective. Education is a social as well as an economic investment. What happens in classrooms can contribute to a more cohesive and less polarised society.
