The gap between disadvantaged and advantaged children is closing, but very slowly, finds a new report on social mobility.
According to the ‘Closing the Gap’ report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), between 2007 and 2016 the attainment gap by the end of primary school narrowed by 2.8 months, and the gap by age five by 1.2 months.
While it acknowledges there has been some progress, it says it is taking too long. At current rates, the EPI estimates it will take 50 years for the attainment gap to close completely by the time pupils take their GCSEs.
The report, which compares the attainment of disadvantaged children with that of other pupils in the early years, primary and secondary schools in England, finds that the gap grows as children progress through the education system. The gap ranges from zero to seven months in the early years, five to 13 months at the end of primary, and one month to more than two years at the end of secondary school.
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