Poorer students in Bucks a year behind better off peers
A new report shows the education gap between disadvantaged and better off GCSE students in Buckinghamshire is over a year.
Disadvantaged secondary school pupils in Buckinghamshire were 17.5 months behind their better off peers nationally in 2019.
This comes from the Education Policy Institute's annual report.
Nationally the gap is 18.1 months.
They say the learning gap has shrunk by 1.1 months sine 2012, suggesting Buckinghamshire's poorer might be catching up.
Around 12% of secondary school pupils in the county were classed as disadvantaged last year, meaning they were eligible for free school meals in the last six years.
Figures show that 3% were defined as persistently disadvantaged which means they were eligible for free school meals for 80% or more of their school life.
Last year, the EPI suggested it would take 500 years to close the education gap. However, this years data suggests that gap is no longer closing.
David Laws, executive chairman of the think tank, said this comes despite the Government's pledge to "level up" regional inequalities:
"Before the Covid crisis, disadvantaged children were around 1.5 years of learning behind other pupils, and this figure seems almost certain to have increased since the closure of schools.
“It is deeply concerning that our country entered the pandemic with such a lack of progress in this key area of social policy, and the Government urgently needs to put in place new policy measures to help poor children to start to close the gap again.”
The education gap also exists for disadvantaged young children in Buckinghamshire, with five-year-olds trailing by 4.4 months and primary school pupils 11.5 months behind.
A Department for Education spokesman said:
“Getting all children back into their classrooms full-time in September is a national priority, because it is the best place for their education, development and wellbeing.
“While the attainment gap had narrowed since 2011, many have had their education disrupted by coronavirus, and we cannot let these children lose out."
He added that the £1 billion Covid catch up package will tackle the impact of lost teaching time, with £350 million for disadvantaged students, for whom getting back to school is particularly important.