8th June 2016 1:00
By Blue Tutors
A new report has issued further dire warnings as to the attainment gap between pupils in the North and South of England. The study by the Institute for Public Policy Research said that northern secondary schools lag far behind England’s average, and urged the government to act to ensure that plans to improve the economy in the north did not fail before they began due to poor educational standards. Education secretary Nicky Morgan acknowledged that the attainment gap was a concern, but said that ongoing reforms would help poorer pupils. She noted that the attainment gap between northern and southern secondary schools has fallen, but that more needed to be done.
The Institute for Public Policy Research’s report was funded by education charity Teach First, and showed significant disparities remaining in the results achieved by pupils in different parts of the UK. The proportions of students achieving five GCSEs at grades A* to C were 55.5% in the north, compared with 60.9% in London and 57.3% in England as a whole. The research also found that the poorest students (those eligible for free school meals) achieving five GCSEs grades A* - C are 34% in the north, compared with 48.2 in London and 36.6 in England as a whole. The report highlighted some individual schools that flout the trend, but said that overall there remained an alarming attainment gap at both primary and secondary school level.
The report points out that focusing on failing schools isn’t enough to address the problem, highlighting that even good and outstanding rated schools in the north perform less well than those in the south. Report authors also say that the government needs to address funding discrepancies, pointing out that annual funding for secondary school pupils in London is £7,000 compared with just £5,700 in the north. Teach First said that the government would do well to follow the example of London schools, which have gone from being among the worst to among the best performing schools in the country. They concluded with a warning that the government’s economic plans for the north would not get off the ground if they failed to address the attainment gap.