According to the Education Policy Institute’s annual report on the state of education in England, which focuses on changes in pupil attainment between 2019 and 2023, disadvantaged pupils are now over 19 months behind their peers by the time they sit their GCSEs, with the gap having increased at ages five, 11 and 16.
Looking at the early years specifically, the research shows that the disadvantage gap increased by 10 per cent between 2019 and 2023.
It also reveals that the attainment gap has widened among Reception-aged pupils with SEND, to its widest on record for those children on SEND support and with EHCPs.
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