The difference in average GCSE English and maths results between poorer and richer pupils – the so-called “attainment gap” – is the largest in England in over a decade, according to a recent government analysis.
Reducing this gap is something politicians have struggled with for decades.
But education professionals do know of one way to reduce it, which was made clear from the last few years of exam results. When end-of-year exams were replaced with teacher assessment during the first year of the COVID pandemic in 2020, there was a small but real closing of the gap.
In 2021, when teacher assessment was also used, the attainment gap widened from 2020 and was higher than in 2019 – but this may reflect the many further barriers the pandemic added to disadvantaged students’ attainment.
