Poorer pupils fell behind their peers last year by the largest degree on record, a think tank has found, as the Covid pandemic disrupted efforts to create a more equal playing field.
The long-standing attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and better-off classmates saw a bigger increase in 2021 than any other year in the past decade, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found.
It said much of the progress towards closing this divide was wiped out last year.
Labour said the research was “resounding evidence” the government was failing children, while a union said it exposed “deep-rooted inequalities” within education.
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Plan to register children not in school takes shape
A register to identify children who are not in school in England will be part of a bill introduced to Parliament on Tuesday. Read the
Family Court Annual Report: October 2023 to September 2024
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Hundreds of English schools still at risk from crumbling concrete
Hundreds of schools in England are still at risk of collapse from crumbling concrete, according to previously unpublished figures. Official data, which the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
