Attainment gaps and child poverty: what does JRF report find in Scotland?

There are big gaps in attainment in Scotland – and wider concerns about child poverty – but analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation also finds some encouraging signs
29th January 2025, 12:01am

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Attainment gaps and child poverty: what does JRF report find in Scotland?

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/attainment-gaps-and-child-poverty-jrf-report-scotland
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A UK-wide report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) highlights the scale of the challenge as Scotland attempts to close attainment gaps between rich and poor.

The report also finds some reasons to be optimistic about Scottish education and predicts that the child-poverty rate will head in the right direction.

However, the JRF stresses that first minister John Swinney’s aim to eradicate child poverty remains a long distance away.

In Scotland, at pre-school level, the report finds “a noticeable attainment gap in reaching expected levels across a range of developmental areas” between children in the least deprived 20 per cent and most deprived 20 per cent parts of the country. This includes a 12-percentage-point gap in listening and talking and a 20-point gap in literacy.

By the end of primary school, there is a 21-point gap in literacy and an 18-point gap in numeracy between children from the most and least deprived neighbourhoods, based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

‘Good progress’ since Covid

The attainment gap at age 11 in Scotland for literacy and numeracy was narrowing before Covid, the JRF finds, but in 2020-21, towards the end of the pandemic, it widened again.

The report adds, however, that “we have since seen good progress in closing this gap, with children from the most deprived neighbourhoods improving faster than children in the least deprived neighbourhoods (23 to 18 percentage points in numeracy; 24 to 21 percentage points in literacy).

At age 16, the gap between young people in the most and least deprived neighbourhoods achieving one pass at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 5 (National 5 or equivalent) was reduced between 2009-10 and 2014-15 by increasing the attainment of children from deprived neighbourhoods, but since then the gap has remained stable (around 20 percentage points).

The JRF warns that the future could be difficult throughout the UK.

“The challenges faced by families with children due to the cost-of-living crisis are likely to affect young people’s learning and attainment,” the report states. “As families cut back on essentials as they struggle to keep up with rising costs, the number of children attending school hungry is likely to rise, affecting children’s ability to take part and attain in school.”

Third of British schools have food banks

More than seven in ten staff in primary schools say that supporting pupils who cannot afford the essentials is a challenge in their school, and one-third of primary schools are providing a school food bank.

“Parental stress and worry are also known to harm young people’s ability to learn in school, and this is likely to increase as a growing number of families worry about making ends meet,” the report states.

It adds: “Taking part fully in school, from having the right school uniform to attending school trips, also comes with costs that a growing number of families will struggle to cover as the costs of essentials rise.”

The JRF also says it is “clear that across nations, policy decisions made during the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated socioeconomic inequalities in attainment”.

The report states: “To avoid further widening the attainment gap, governments in the UK must focus education policy on closing attainment gaps so that these errors are not repeated in future policy decisions.

Scottish first minister John Swinney said this month that his top priority is “eradicating” child poverty.

Scotland’s child poverty rate is predicted to drop further than the rest of the UK, the JRF finds, from the latest recorded rate of 23.7 per cent to 21.8 per cent in January 2029.

Lowest child poverty rate in UK

If the projections - which use modelling from the IPPR think tank - are accurate, Scotland will continue to have the lowest rate of child poverty in the UK, as well as the only one which is predicted to fall. Wales will see an increase from 32.3 to 34.4 per cent, while England’s rate will rise from 30.8 to 31.5 per cent and Northern Ireland’s from 25.5 to 26.2 per cent.

Chris Birt, the JRF’s associate director for Scotland, said figures highlighted in today’s report “show just how far we are” from the first minister’s ambition of eradicating child poverty.

“What people in Scotland deserve is for both their governments to work in their interest,” he said. “The Scottish government has set themselves lofty ambitions, but the UK government has also promised change...we need to see concerted efforts from UK government, including on social security, to deliver the better society free from poverty that our children deserve.”

The JRF says that differences between Scotland and other parts of the UK are partly attributable to the Scottish Child Payment, which gives some families £26.70 a week for each eligible child.

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