Leeds schools must do more to help kids get top GCSE grades

Schools across West Yorkshire are being told to do more to DOUBLE the number of disadvantaged students getting the top grades at GCSE.

It comes as a new report says England must double the number of disadvantaged pupils achieving top GCSE grades to match the best nations around the world.

In maths, the performance of disadvantaged pupils in England ranks in the lower half of developed countries, England’s disadvantaged pupils lag behind several other Western nations including Canada, the Netherlands and Ireland – achieving around a third of a grade lower (on average)

Disadvantaged pupils in Asian nations of Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan are even further ahead – with England performing around half a grade lower in maths.

As many as 4 in 10 disadvantaged pupils in England fail to reach the new GCSE “standard” pass mark of a grade 4 in maths.

Commenting on the new report, Natalie Perera, report co-author and Executive Director of the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said:

“This report provides a reality-check on educational equality in England. While the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed slightly in recent years, in maths poorer pupils in England remain a full GCSE grade behind – a gap that is considerably greater than in some other Western countries. There is also much work to do with the overall performance of disadvantaged pupils in England, with only 1 in 10 achieving the very top grades in GCSEs.

“Although establishing England as a leading nation for supporting disadvantaged pupils remains a huge challenge, there are several countries which have seen success on both levels of equity, and performance. If we wish to improve on these measures and ensure our school system works for pupils of all backgrounds, learning from the experiences of these nations is essential.

A Department for Education spokesperson said:

“Thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, we are seeing real improvements in English schools – and this report confirms the progress that is being made to raise standards.

“There are now 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010, our GCSE and A-levels rank among the world’s best qualifications and the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has narrowed at GCSE and Key Stage 2. But there is always more to do – that’s why our Social Mobility Action Plan set out measures to drive improvements in key skills including numeracy, targets areas that need the most support through our £72million Opportunity Areas programme and builds on the almost £2.5 billion we provide each year to schools to help raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.”