Highly-able disadvantaged pupils achieve on average a whole grade lower per GCSE subject than the most affluent highly-able children, research suggests.
The social mobility of the next generation is “under threat” unless intervention takes place to close the attainment gaps that have opened since the pandemic, a report by the Sutton Trust charity warns.
The report finds that 62% of non-disadvantaged high attainers got five or more grade 7-9s (the top grades) at GCSE in 2021, compared to 40% of high-potential pupils who were disadvantaged.
If the disadvantaged group progressed at the same rate as their peers, there would have been almost 7,000 more achieving top GCSE grades in 2021. Over five years, this amounts to over 28,000 pupils.
The study looks at a group of 2,249 young people in England from disadvantaged backgrounds who showed high academic potential at the end of primary school.
It explores the progress of this group during secondary school in comparison to their non-disadvantaged peers with the same grades.
