New report identifies widening of the disadvantage gap

A new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has provided the first comprehensive picture of the impact of COVID-19 on the existing ‘disadvantage gap’.

The report “Covid-19 and Disadvantage Gaps in England 2020” states that while there was no negative impact of the switch to teacher-assessed grades for poorer students, there was impact on those with SEND (see infographic below). In addition, the overall gap between students in poverty and their peers not in poverty has failed to improve over the last ten years. As more students have now fallen into longer-term poverty due to the pandemic and rising costs of living, this will have an increasingly detrimental impact.

We know from the SEND figures released last year that that 34.3% of pupils on SEN Support and 38% of pupils with an EHCP are awarded Free School Meals (FSM). These figures are much higher than those without any SEND and highlights how pupils in this group will be disproportionately disadvantaged.

The gaps between different local authorities shows that regional variations also contribute to significant disadvantage. For example, if you are a pupil with SEND, pupil premium and living in Blackpool, you are much more disadvantaged compared to a non-SEND, non-PP pupil in Kensington and Chelsea by almost gaining two grades lower.

While we welcome the government’s creation of the ‘Education Investment Areas’ this report highlights that there are disadvantaged pupils across all local authorities that also need the investment. Inequity does not need to be tackled in any one region, it must be tackled everywhere.