The gap in achievement between poor primary school pupils in England and their more advantaged peers has reached a 10-year high, according to new data that points to the cost of the pandemic to children’s education.
The disadvantage disparity index reached 3.21 this year, up from 2.91 when exams last took place in 2019 and its highest level since 2012, revealed a Department for Education analysis released on Monday.
The figures, based on the key stage two exams (or Sats) results of 11-year-olds in reading, writing and maths, support previous findings that poorer children were disproportionately affected by learning loss after lessons moved online in March 2020.
