‘Stark’ warning from minister as report shows how inequalities bed-in early

Inequalities for pupils from poorer backgrounds and with SEND emerge at the very start of primary school, a new report has warned, prompting ministers’ fears of a “lasting impact on their education and outcomes”.

The first findings from “five to twelve”, a new government-funded longitudinal study, found these vulnerable pupils faced “disadvantage across multiple areas linked to later educational outcomes”.

For example, these vulnerable pupils were “more likely to have longstanding health conditions”.

Children with SEN were also less likely to have regular bedtimes or exercise daily and slept fewer hours on average. Teachers also reported both pupils with SEN and eligible for free meals had less well-developed motor skills.

Over three quarters of pupils overall were predicted to meet the expected standard in maths and reading.

But those with SEN, children from lower-income households and those with less educated parents were less likely to be predicted to reach these standards.

Schools minister Georgia Gould described the findings as “stark”.

“Disadvantaged children are already falling behind by year 1, potentially having a lasting impact on their education and outcomes.

“That’s why we’re acting early, getting children ready to succeed in school through Best Start Family Hubs, free school meals for hundreds of thousands more children, specialist SEND support and raising standards through our RISE teams.”

Family circumstances

The research is being conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), and supported by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and the National Children’s Bureau (NCB).

The study is following a cohort of pupils through primary education during the 2020s, and aims to understand educational and wellbeing outcomes and how they are linked to social inequalities.

The first report, based on pupils who were in year 1 in 2023-24, found family circumstances “differed markedly by disadvantage”.

For example, while 78 per cent of children overall lived with two parents, 59 per cent of those eligible for free school meals lived in a lone-parent household.

Eighty-three per cent of families took part in home learning activities at least a few times a week, but participation was lower among FSM-eligible families, families with lower levels of parental education and for children with SEN.

Cognitive skills were also “strongly linked to socio-economic circumstances”.

“Verbal skills, non-verbal reasoning and working memory were all associated with parental education and socio-economic status, while children with SEN scored lower on average,” the report said.

The study also tracks whether pupils have SEN, either with or without a statutory education, health and care plan, against their characteristics and that of their families.

It shows pupils from households with lower incomes and with lower levels of parental education are more likely to be identified as having SEN.

Digital divide

The study also asked parents how long their children spent on digital devices in non-school time on a weekday.

Only 5 per cent reported zero hours, 42 per cent reported one hour, 36 per cent two hours, 12 per cent three hours, 3 per cent four hours and 2 per cent 5 hours.

The average number of hours across the cohort was 1.74 hours.

But pupils from lower-income households had on average more screen time than those from better-off families.

Twenty-four per cent of parents with a household income of below £19,999 a year reported three or more hours of screen time, compared to 10 per cent of those earning over £90,000.

Bullying and behaviour

Researchers also looked at elements of the cohort’s schooling. It found pupils from poorer households and with a lower level of parental education were more likely to demonstrate disruptive behaviour and display bullying behaviours.

This was also true for boys, for pupils with SEN and those eligible for free school meals.

However, these pupils were also more likely than their peers to experience bullying.

The report also found that disadvantaged pupils were less close to their teachers. They were also more likely to receive tutoring, one-to-one or small group learning support at school.

Teachers’ ‘early expectations’

The report also found two-thirds of children were taught English and maths in groupings based on attainment and ability.

This is “slightly higher than indicated by other evidence on attainment grouping practices for this age group, perhaps signifying an increase in this practice”.

Children from lower-income household and with lower parental education are “less likely to be predicted by teachers to achieve the expected standards at the end of primary school and are less likely to be in higher attainment groups”.

“These disparities are wider still for cohort children with SEN. While developmental disparities exist before children even start primary education, these findings may also prompt consideration of the influence of teachers’ early expectations and grouping practices on children’s future outcomes.”

The research concluded that “overall, the findings in this chapter indicate that demographic differences are significantly associated with a child’s experience of school at an early age.

“The findings have implications for both the targeting of support to help mitigate these differences and the need to track their longer-term effects.”