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Attainment gap ‘at risk of widening’ in current policy outlook, experts warn

The early years sector is increasingly moving towards ‘childcare at the expense of high-quality education’, the Sutton Trust warns.
The Sutton Trust has accused the Government of 'failing disadvantaged children' with the way it treats its early years policies, PHOTO: Adobe Stock
The Sutton Trust has accused the Government of 'failing disadvantaged children' with the way it treats its early years policies, PHOTO: Adobe Stock

In a policy briefing published today (24 January) by the Trust, education and social mobility experts state that current Government plans not only risk exacerbating inequalities but worsening the quality of education for all young children.

Reviewing the widespread evidence of the mounting pressures facing the early years sector, the Trust warns of a ‘major deterioration in the education of disadvantaged young children’.

It states that current Conservative plans to treat the sector primarily as childcare, with less focus on its role as education, ‘puts quality at risk’ and ‘widens gaps in access’.

The expanded childcare offer is likely to ‘further widen’ the early years attainment gap as just 20 per cent of families earning less than £20,000 a year will have access to funded places, compared to 80 per cent of those with household incomes over £45,000, it says.

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