Early years children who are eligible for free school meals have poorer educational outcomes in affluent areas compared with those in more deprived local authorities, according to new research.
Analysis from Nesta shows that 51.9 per cent of children on free school meals in the least deprived local authorities reach a target “good level of development” in an end-of-Reception assessment, compared with 59.3 per cent in the most deprived areas.
At the end of Reception year, children in England are assessed on their educational progress in 17 areas by teachers, and children are considered to have reached a good level of development if they meet goals across communication and language; personal, social and emotional development; physical development; literacy; and maths.
Nationally, children eligible for free school meals are less likely to be “on track” in an assessment that includes maths, literacy, communication skills and social development compared with their peers, with 57 per cent reaching this benchmark in 2019 against a national average of 72 per cent.
Nesta has said that possible reasons for the trend could include better-off areas having “less experience” in dealing with disadvantage, or that funding formulas “route” more money into deprived areas.
Louise Bazalgette, deputy director of Nesta’s Fairer Start team, said: “There are lots of factors that could be at play including the possibility that better-off areas have less experience in dealing with disadvantage. It could be to do with teachers’ individual assessments or because the funding formula routes more money into deprived areas so it’s easier to provide more comprehensive early years services.
“It does suggest that we need to pay attention to educational outcomes everywhere - even in more affluent areas - and there may be opportunities to share learning and best practice among local authorities.”
Data scientists at Nesta used a dataset including 190 different variables to group local authorities into seven sets with similar characteristics, and found wide variation in outcomes even among neighbouring areas with similar demographics and levels of deprivation.
The organisation hopes to study if good practice could be shared among local authorities to improve early educational outcomes, as they found some areas where the gap between those on free school meals and those not on free school meals was very small.
In Hackney, for example, 69 per cent of children on free school meals reached a good level of development in 2019 - only one percentage point less than children not on free school meals.
Rachel Wilcock, a data scientist at Nesta, said: “The findings are striking. They show that children on free school meals in some areas stand a better chance of reaching a good level of development than they might in other local authorities with similar geography, deprivation and demographics - we’re seeing a lot of variation within regions or even between neighbouring local authorities.
“We want to find out what’s happening in the areas that are bucking the trend despite a challenging set of circumstances.”
Paul Senior, director of education at Hackney Council, said: “We believe the power to drive improvement and to maintain standards, ambition and inclusion in education lies at local authority level working in partnership with education system leaders, where, like Hackney, there is a proven track record of excellence, positive outcomes for learners and will.
“We must continue to be given government support, funding and powers to be enabled to continue to do so.”
A DfE spokesperson: “We are committed to driving up standards for children in every corner of the country and thanks to a £5 billion education recovery package and increased support for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils through Pupil Premium funding, we are starting to see encouraging progress.
“This targeted support for pupils who need it most is vital as we work towards our ambitious target of 90% of children leaving primary school reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030.
“Alongside this, thanks to the Chancellor’s Autumn statement, the core schools budget will be boosted by £2bn in each of the next two years meaning school spending returns to at least 2010 levels in real terms - the highest spending year in history.”
