GCSE gap widens between poor and rich pupils

The gap between poor and rich pupils at GCSE has widened, signalling “a major setback for social mobility”, according to a new report.

The study, by the Education Policy Institute, found the gap, which had been gradually closing since 2011, widened last year, with the most persistently disadvantaged pupils now almost two years (22.6 months) behind their peers by the time they finish their GCSEs.

The thinktank discovered that disadvantaged pupils were 9.2 months behind their richer classmates by the end of primary school. Then, by the time children were sitting to take their GCSEs, poorer students were 18.1 months behind in terms of average attainment in English and maths.

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The study says that, at the current rate, it will take 500 years to close the gap.

The BBC says the analysis shows “particular problems in the north,” while TES points out that “black Caribbean pupils have fallen further behind white British pupils, as the attainment gap between them has widened by 2.2 months since 2011”.

David Laws, chairman of the Education Policy Institute and a former Liberal Democrats minister, described the findings as a “major setback” for social mobility.

He added: “Educational inequality on this scale is bad for both social mobility and economic productivity. This report should be a wake-up call for our new prime minister.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT union, said: "Schools and colleges need an immediate multibillion-pound emergency investment, alongside a long-term commitment to sufficient education funding.”

Labour’s education spokesman Angela Rayner told the Daily Mail that “successive Tory governments have cut school budgets for the first time in a generation”.

The government said the gap had “narrowed considerably” in recent years.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: “Teachers and school leaders are helping to drive up standards right across the country, with 85% of children now in good or outstanding schools compared to just 66% in 2010, but there is more to do to continue to attract and retain talented individuals in our classrooms.”