The next government will inherit a series of challenges facing schools, including “persistent” education inequalities, higher pupil absences and growing mental health difficulties, a report warns.
Challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have “cast a long shadow” that will affect schools and young people beyond this Parliament, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
Schools in England are seeing more pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), a rise in absenteeism and growing emotional and behavioural difficulties among young people, the report says.
The research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, notes that literacy and numeracy skills of 15-year-olds in England have “improved significantly” relative to other high-income countries over the past decade.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the need for investment to close the attainment gap “has never been more apparent.”
“The next government cannot continue to allow these gaps in our society to continue to hamper the life chances of millions of children,” he added.
Inequalities in education ‘exceptionally persistent’
Within Britain, English schools perform much better than those in Wales and Scotland, the IFS reports. But it warns of “substantial inequalities” in attainment at every stage of education in England.
“Despite decades of policy attention, inequalities in education have been exceptionally persistent,” the report from the think tank says.
At GCSE, just 43 per cent of 16-year-olds eligible for free school meals achieved a grade 4 or higher in maths and English in 2023, compared with 72 per cent of their better-off peers.
Alongside the “long-standing” issue of educational inequalities, schools are facing new challenges in the wake of the pandemic, the report says.
The number of children on an education, health and care plan (EHCP) has risen by 60 per cent since 2016.
The rise in EHCPs has been greater among less disadvantaged families over the last few years, the report says.
“This increase is even more striking since there is evidence of schools and local authorities rationing support; 98 per cent of appeals are successful at tribunals,” according to the IFS paper.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: ”Schools do their best to help, but they lack the time, resources and expertise, and the difficulty they face in accessing funding to support pupils with SEND is a real issue.”
Spike in pupil absences
Another challenge for schools has been a spike in absences compared with before the pandemic, with pupils now missing 14 days of school per year on average.
The report says nearly two in five (37 per cent) pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are now “persistently absent”, meaning they miss at least one day of school per fortnight on average.
An increase in absenteeism, a rise in behavioural problems and mental health challenges, and a growing number of children with SEND are “creating significant pressures in the education system”, the IFS warns.
The report concludes that while there are high levels of achievement within the education system, “there are also fundamental challenges...At every stage of education, children from less advantaged backgrounds perform significantly worse”.
Next government needs to ‘address new challenges’
Imran Tahir, IFS research economist and an author of the report, said the scale of inequalities “is still enormous”.
He added: ‘The gap between the most and least-disadvantaged fifth of 15-year-olds is equivalent to the gap between the average in England and the average in Colombia.
“The key for the next government will be to build on the progress made in pupil attainment, but to address these new challenges that are putting schools and teachers under severe strain,” he added.
The Department for Education was contacted for comment.
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