The government should reform additional funding for poorer pupils to ensure those “persistently disadvantaged” get more cash, a think tank said after it found such children were almost two years behind their peers by the end of secondary school.
The Education Policy Institute also said all pupils should get a “thorough screening check” for special educational needs and disabilities at the beginning of primary school to close growing attainment gaps (see full list of solutions below).
The think tank’s annual report found that at age 5, disadvantaged pupils were already 4.8 months behind their peers in 2022, up from 4.2 months in 2019 and its highest level since 2014.
By the end of primary school, the gap was 10.3 months, up from 9.3 in 2019 and higher than it was in 2012, reversing a “sustained period of decreasing inequalities between 2011 and 2018”.
