This online conference will assess next steps for raising educational attainment, as well as examining key factors contributing to the attainment gap across England’s schools.

It takes place in the context of the Schools White Paper earlier this year, which set out Government’s ambitions for 90% of primary school children to achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030, and for the average national GCSE grade in secondary schools in English and Maths to increase from 4.5 to 5.

Delegates will assess the rollout of the 55 Education Investment Areas (EIA) announced in the White Paper, with a focus on school improvement and what has been effective so far in terms of attainment and provision, as well as recommendations to reform the Pupil Premium and proposals from the Education Endowment Foundation to boost educational recovery from the pandemic, with discussion on progress and the effectiveness of the National Tutoring Programme.

Attendees will also consider the impact of social factors on aims to raise attainment and educational standards, including case studies on tackling education disparities in marginalised groups, and challenges posed by wider concerns over living costs.

The conference will also include discussion addressing disadvantage in the early years following recent statistics published by the Department for Education, which suggested a wide attainment gap in early years education between children on free school meals and their peers.

Keynote session will be with John Craven, Director, Social Mobility Commission.

Overall, sessions in the agenda will bring out discussion on areas including:
• school standards: developing a broad curriculum with high standards of core content learning - quality of assessment and qualifications - the role of extra-curricular tutoring in supporting attainment
• literacy and numeracy levels: introducing strategies to improve core pupil skills - implementing statutory curriculum standards in early years - reception-level teaching - building positive learning environments - the impact of Maths and English hubs so far
• tackling disadvantage: additional support for students - assessing proposals for reform of Pupil Premium funding - targeting investment in school infrastructure and staffing to tackle disparities - improving resources for parents and carers to enable learning beyond the classroom
• education recovery from the pandemic: challenges for implementation of the National Tutoring Programme - tutoring and academic interventions for pupils at risk of falling behind
• case studies: interventions in key areas for improving educational attainment, including black pupils, free school meals recipients, and those from Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller backgrounds
• workforce: delivering high-quality teaching - supporting workforce training and development opportunities - securing teacher retention and tackling shortages - the impact of staff wellbeing on teaching standards.