The North East’s biggest two cities see disadvantaged children “fade out” from the education system as they get older, a new report suggests.
The report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) said that disadvantaged pupils in England find it “increasingly difficult” to catch up as they progress into secondary school. Newcastle and Sunderland are identified as “fade out” areas where the disadvantage gap was below average gaps at age 11 but above average gaps by the time children get to 16.
Campaigners say the Government should prioritise early intervention but also carry out continued interventions throughout pupils’ schooling to reduce the disadvantage gap. The think tank’s report highlights significant variation in the attainment gap between disadvantaged learners and their peers in different areas of England.
The report – funded by Collective Futures, Ethos Foundation and The Henry Smith Charity – found the disadvantage gap continued to widen as young people moved into secondary school. For the 2023 cohort, it found the gap widened from 9.2 months among pupils aged 11 in 2018 to 19.2 months by the time these students were aged 16.
It said: “It appears to become increasingly difficult when areas are already behind for their disadvantaged pupils to subsequently catch up, reflected in there being far fewer ‘catch-up’ areas during the secondary phase than at the primary phase. This points to the importance of early intervention to support better educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils before they fall behind their peers.
“Yet we still see some areas where the gap in the early years and primary phases is relatively narrow but is then wider amongst older pupils. This highlights that early intervention is not enough and has to be accompanied by continued intervention to prevent further widening of inequalities.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is likely that this variation is influenced by the impact of societal factors such as entrenched poverty and damage to aspirations caused by generational disadvantage. Other problems are caused by resource issues such as a lack of specialist support, limited access to early years education, and severe staffing and funding shortages in many schools which constrains the pastoral support they can provide.
“Addressing these issues requires cross-government action and investment.”
Schools North East has previously called for the Government to do more to recognise the impact that long-term deprivation has on areas like the North East, saying that current policy is not doing enough to close the attainment gap.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our ambitious Plan for Change sets out our clear mission to break the link between background and success, ensuring that by 2028 a record number of children reach a good level of development when they start school.
“We know there are baked-in inequalities that remain in our education system, which is why we are also delivering free breakfast clubs in every primary school, expanding our attendance mentors programme, and launching our curriculum and assessment reviews that will tackle the obstacles that hold children back.
“We are also developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty and work has already begun to rebuild families’ confidence in reforming the broken Send system with £1bn.”
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