New report considers trends in the attainment gap for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils

The Education Policy Institute have published a report ‘Breaking down the gap’ presenting trends in the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils and other vulnerable groups relative to their peers. In their report, they build on that analysis to provide an in-depth assessment of educational inequalities in England, comparing the pre- and post-pandemic periods, and consider:

• How disadvantage gaps and attainment gaps for other vulnerable groups have changed between 2019 and 2023
• Whether disadvantaged or other vulnerable groups have lost out compared to their peers over this period, after adjusting for other factors affecting attainment
• How the characteristics of disadvantaged students contributed towards the size of the disadvantage gap in 2023.

Their key findings are

• Pupil absence is a key, and growing, driver of the disadvantage gap. If disadvantaged pupils had the same level of absence as their peers in 2023, the attainment gap would have been almost one month smaller at age 11 and over four months smaller at age 16. The growth in the gap since 2019 at age 16 can be entirely explained by higher levels of absence for disadvantaged pupils.
• At all key stages, half (or more) of the gap is explained by the size of the gap in earlier stages.
• Disadvantaged students fall even further behind when they attend schools and colleges with lower-attaining intakes. This peer effect adds over 1 month to the GCSE gap in 2023, and a third of a grade to the 16-19 gap.
• The attainment gap widened between 2019 and 2023 for pupils in reception year with special educational needs and disabilities compared to their peers. This is particularly notable for children on SEN support who fell 0.7 months further behind between 2019 and 2023, one of the largest gap-increases of all the vulnerable groups we consider at age 5.
• The gender gap at GCSE has narrowed, with boys substantially narrowing the gap with girls between 2019 and 2023.
• While the 16-19 disadvantage gap changed little between 2019 and 2023 for those in education, disadvantaged students have become less likely to continue into this critical final phase of compulsory education.

See the full report here