Deaf students are on average almost a year-and-a-half of learning behind their classmates who do not have any special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), according to a new report.
This learning deficit typically results in deaf students losing out on more than a whole grade in GCSE maths and English, impacting future career paths and earnings, according to the report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank and the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS).
The report highlights considerable attainment gaps for deaf students, and recommends enhanced funding and support for these students and those requiring other SEND support.
It also calls for a broader strategy to tackle child poverty to better support those deaf children facing a double barrier to educational success.
At GCSE, the report says, this attainment gap for deaf students can be likened to the gap faced by socio-economically disadvantaged students - those classed as those eligible for free school meals at some point within the past six years.
In 2019, disadvantaged GCSE students faced an average attainment gap equivalent to 18.1 months of learning, only slightly larger than the 17.5 months experienced by deaf students.
On average, these student groups attained lower grades than almost two-thirds of all students in 2019.
The GCSE attainment gap for deaf students
The report reveals a particularly concerning outlook for deaf students who were eligible for the pupil premium. In 2019, one-third (33 per cent) of deaf children at key stage 4 were socio-economically disadvantaged, compared with 23 per cent of children with no special needs.
Deaf students who were socio-economically disadvantaged, on average, faced an attainment gap of almost three years (34 months); almost twice as large as the gap faced by deaf students generally.
The attainment of these students was revealed to trail more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of all other schoolchildren at GCSE in 2019.
While the average GCSE grade achieved by non-deaf, non-disadvantaged students stood at a “good GCSE pass” grade of 5, the average grade achieved by students who were both deaf and disadvantaged was halved to only 2.5.
The research illustrates the far greater disruption to learning experienced by students who are both deaf and disadvantaged.
This link between the attainment of deaf children and disadvantage is also highlighted through geographical disparities in attainment.
Deaf children living in largely affluent areas, such as Wokingham, Berkshire, have average GCSE attainment that compares favourably with children who have no recorded SEND.
But in Nottingham, which includes some of the more deprived areas within England, deaf children attained lower grades than three-quarters of students nationally.
While the learning losses experienced by deaf children become most pronounced during KS4, due to GCSEs demanding a greater volume and complexity of knowledge from students, they begin at a young age, the report says.
For younger deaf pupils, an average 8.8 months of learning is lost at KS1, with 12 months being lost at KS2. For this reason, the report highlights the importance of early identification and support.
The report also says that only moderate improvements had been made in closing the deaf attainment gap between 2011 and 2019, with around three months of learning having been restored to deaf children by KS4.
These improvements were also revealed to have focused most heavily on non-disadvantaged and female deaf pupils. With these improvements accounting for a 0.2 grade reduction in the attainment gap, the report concludes that greater assistance is needed to support all deaf schoolchildren to achieve equitable outcomes through education.
It recommends developing more effective support packages that recognise and respond to the varied and complex needs of deaf pupils.
Jo Hutchinson, director for SEND and additional needs at the EPI, said the report sheds light on the “unacceptable inequality” that deaf children face by the time they sit their GCSEs.
“It is disheartening to reveal they encounter a similar attainment gap to socio-economically disadvantaged children. Furthermore, deaf children who are also disadvantaged, or who also speak or sign English as an additional language, face multiple disadvantages while in education, resulting in particularly low attainment,” she said.
“It cannot be right that our school system accepts these outcomes for deaf children, and more must be done to counter the barriers to learning that they face.”
Ian Noon, chief policy adviser at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “This report calls into question whether the special educational needs system is fit for purpose or meeting the needs of deaf children.
“The government must now follow through on its commitments through the SEND review improvement plan to level the playing field for all deaf children and ensure they receive better specialist support as a matter of urgency.”
Ministers last week set out plans for SEND reform, but many key proposals will not be rolled out until 2025.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
