The key stage 4 disadvantage gap has risen to its highest level in 10 years, new government data has revealed.
New statistics, published today by the Department for Education, show that the KS4 disadvantage gap index widened in 2022, compared to the previous year (from 3.79 to 3.84) and is now at its highest level since 2012.
The data also revealed that the proportion of students who were missing the languages component of the English Baccalaureate rose to 87.6 per cent in 2021 to 2022.
In the 2020 to 2021 academic year, the figure was 87.3 (up from 86 per cent in 2018 to 2019).
This year, students completed the first summer exams series after two years of cancellations owing to Covid-related disruption.
Exams were cancelled in 2021 for the second consecutive year and students were awarded teacher-assessed grades, leading to grade inflation.
While the disadvantage gap index, which summarises the relative attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils, had been widening before the pandemic, it narrowed slightly in 2020 when centre-assessed grades replaced exams, which were cancelled owing to the pandemic.
The Progress 8 scores, also released today, revealed that the disadvantage gap was greater than expected, as disadvantaged pupils achieved lower grades, and their peers’ progress was better than had been previously predicted
The scores have been published for the first time since 2019, as the DfE decided against doing so during the period when exams were cancelled.
Non-disadvantaged pupils averaged a Progress 8 score of 0.15. However, disadvantaged pupils averaged a Progress 8 score of -0.55, achieving half a grade less than expected by the end of KS4.
Gender gap
On average, girls progressed more than expected when compared to similar pupils in their prior attainment group, according to Progress 8 scores.
Girls averaged a Progress 8 score of 0.15, while boys averaged a Progress 8 score of -0.21, meaning boys achieved one fifth of a grade less than expected by the end of KS4.
Proportion achieving grade 5 is still higher than pre-pandemic
In 2022, almost half of pupils (49.6 per cent) achieved a grade 5 or higher in both English and maths, an increase of 6.4 percentage points (from 43.2 per cent) in comparison with 2018-19.
While this figure fell compared to 2021, the DfE said that this was “generally what we would expect, given Ofqual’s approach to grading for 2022 exams, which broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021”.
In 2022, 38.7 per cent of students were entered into the full EBacc, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points compared to 2019, when four in 10 pupils were entered.
And today’s data revealed that 12.2 per cent of students were missing the humanities component, a fall from 13.6 per cent in 2019.
Attainment 8 up from 2019 but down on last year
Attainment 8, which measures the average achievement of pupils in up to eight qualifications, decreased compared to 2021, but was up compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
This was to be expected, given the way pupils were assessed in 2020 and 2021 owing to the pandemic, according to the DfE.
In 2022, the average Attainment 8 score decreased compared to 2021 (from 50.9 to 48.7) but was up from the 2019 average of 46.7.
Attainment level assigned to pupils based on their KS2 results
The percentage of pupils at all attainment levels fell in 2022 compared to 2021, which is to be expected because of the way in which pupils were assessed in that year.
The percentage of pupils with low prior attainment achieving grades 5 or above in English and mathematics GCSEs rose compared to 2019, from 1.9 per cent to 10.1 per cent this year.
The percentage of pupils with mid prior attainment achieving grades 5 or above in English and mathematics GCSEs also rose compared to 2019, from 22.4 per cent to 53.4 per cent.
And for pupils with high prior attainment, 76.5 per cent of pupils achieve grades 5 or above in English and mathematics GCSEs in 2019, rising to 90.6 per cent in 2022.
Emily Hunt, associate director at the Education Policy Institute, said a cross-government child poverty strategy was needed “urgently” as “increasing numbers of pupils are falling into disadvantage”, and warned that any further cuts to education budgets could risk widening the gap further.
“It’s disappointing that the government’s own disadvantage gap measure now stands at its widest in a decade.
“It’s clear that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds faced a myriad of challenges while learning from home during the pandemic, and consequently experienced greater learning losses. But while the pandemic exacerbated inequalities, the attainment gap was already widening prior to 2020.
“As government considers whether education budgets could be cut further, any reductions pose the very real risk of further widening the attainment gap. Given that increasing numbers of pupils are falling into disadvantage, we urgently need a cross-government child poverty strategy to address the root causes of disadvantage.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he maintained his view that the KS4 league tables should not have been published this year owing to the “disproportionate impact of the pandemic on different schools and colleges”.
“However, since they have been published, it is helpful that the Department for Education has made it clear that this data should be treated with extreme caution. Many changes have been made to the way the data has previously been presented, including the rebranding of the school performance website to remove references to comparison. We would discourage anyone from making direct comparisons between schools and colleges, or comparing this year’s data to previous years.
Overall, he said, results “are broadly as we expected, following the policy decision for grading to reflect a midpoint between the results of summer 2019 and 2021”.
But he said is was “extremely concerning that the disadvantage gap has continued to grow, and is now at its highest level since 2011-12. This is yet another example of how the pandemic has had the biggest impact on the most disadvantaged”.
He added: “Significant investment in a coherent plan for education recovery is badly needed if this gap is ever going to close. Instead, it seems likely that the government is going to reduce spending on education even further. If that is the case, our children and young people, who made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic to protect others, will be disadvantaged yet again.”
Jonathan Gullis, minister for school standards, said today’s data showed “why it is so important we keep our foot on the accelerator and continue to roll out our £5 billion education recovery programme”.
He added: “Thanks to the hard work of teachers - and with over two million high-quality tutoring courses already started through the National Tutoring Programme - young people are getting back on track, and schools should continue to work with parents to make them aware of the additional support on offer.
“This unprecedented support for individual pupils sits alongside targeted investment for areas of the country where outcomes are weakest, as we continue work to drive up standards for pupils in every corner of the country.”
