Poorer pupils do better in more disadvantaged schools, report says

Disadvantaged pupils perform better at schools with where they account for higher proportions of the cohort, researchers have said.

An Institute for Government study, released today, also found areas where disadvantaged youngsters perform worse are more likely to have high numbers of poorer white children.

Amber Dellar, of the IfG, said: “The government’s opportunity mission is a good starting point for narrowing the gaps, but it lacks a clear vision or plan for delivering that goal in schools.

“Any serious plan must focus on helping schools share what works in supporting disadvantaged pupils and reducing their high rates of absence.”

Here’s what you need to know…

1. Schools with ‘greater knowledge’ of disadvantage

The study found poorer children at key stage 2 tended “to do better…in local authority areas where they make up a higher proportion of pupils”.

Parts of the country where primary school disadvantage was in the 75^th percentile typically had 2.9 percentage points more of its poorer pupils “meeting expected standards at KS2 than areas with median disadvantage rates”.

The report suggested this could be because “primary schools with more disadvantaged pupils are better equipped to support them”, adding: “This may reflect their greater knowledge of, and experience in, tailoring education to these pupils’ needs.

“The government should therefore develop networks for these schools to share learnings with those that have fewer disadvantaged pupils.”

IfG noted “similar relationships” existed at secondary level, but that “the correlation is weak”.

2. Northern kids fall behind by GCSEs

Pupils in the north east and north west “tend to underperform” at key stage 4, according to the report.

The former “has had the worst regional KS4 progress since the new GCSE grading system was fully rolled out in 2019”.

In 2024, both of the regions’ key stage 2 attainment was 60 per cent and 62 per cent respectively, which was “on par with the national rate of 61 per cent”.

But this “tends to drop off by the end of secondary school”.

“As a result, the average pupil in the north east and north west scored between a sixth and a quarter of a grade worse in each KS4 subject than would be expected given their KS2 attainment.”

3. ‘Gulf’ between areas

The report found “greater variation in educational outcomes at a local authority level than there is regionally”.

Two local authorities at the so-called “lower end” saw “just half of pupils reach the KS2 expected standard in 2024”, while seven London boroughs “saw three-quarters do so”.

The “gulf” is even starker at key stage 4.

“In Kingston upon Thames, Richmond, Sutton, Barnet and Trafford (the only non-London authority), KS4 attainment was above 80 per cent – around double what it was in Knowsley and Blackpool in the north west (40 per cent and 42 per cent respectively).”

4. Outcomes worse for disadvantaged white pupils

Previous FFT Education Datalab research identified a “high-impact” group of pupils, for whom “disadvantage disproportionately affects performance”. It is “mostly composed of white British children”.

Eighty-four per cent of disadvantaged children in the north east were from these backgrounds in 2023-24, according to the IfG, compared to “only around 30 per cent in London”.

This explains “disadvantaged pupils’ relative underperformance in the north east and overperformance in London”.

Meanwhile, local authorities in the bottom fifth for the primary and secondary performance of poorer youngsters were “disproportionately likely to have above-average shares…from the high-impact group”.