Welsh schools have a wider disadvantage gap than English schools, but both nations have made only modest progress in closing this gap during the last decade. This is according to a new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
The ‘disadvantage gap’ is a leading measure of social mobility and an indicator of policymakers’ progress in reducing inequalities in education. Pupils are classed as ‘disadvantaged’ if they were eligible for free school meals in the past six years, and ‘persistently disadvantaged’ if they were eligible for free school meals for 80% of their time in education.
