Young children with SEND face ‘widest attainment gap on record’

The Education Policy Institute’s (EPI) latest annual report on the state of education in England focusses on the attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers from the early years to 16-19 education.

It finds that while attainment gaps have narrowed since 2019 for older pupils with SEND, the gap has widened among reception-aged pupils to its widest on record for both children accessing SEN support and those with education health and care plans (EHCPs).

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The report states that among reception-aged pupils, those with an EHCP were 19.9 months behind their peers, marking a small increase since 2019.

Pupils receiving SEN support were 12.5 months behind, an increase of 0.7 months since 2019.

It also reveals that since 2019, disadvantaged pupils at ages five, 11 and 16 have fallen further behind their peers - in primary and secondary phases, the gap has grown by a month since pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, persistently disadvantaged pupils, those eligible for free school meals for at least 80% of their school lives, are almost two years behind by age 16.

The EPI is calling on the new government to implement a series of recommendations including producing a renewed strategy for closing attainment gaps, targeted funding for disadvantaged pupils and students and “more effective” support for children with SEND.

The Institute is also calling for the implementation of a cross-government child poverty strategy which Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson committed to while speaking to children’s services leaders at the annual conference of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services in Manchester last week.

EPI chief executive Natalie Perrera said: “If the new government is to make real progress in tackling these inequalities it must adopt evidence-based policies and interventions with urgency. 

“These should include higher levels of funding targeted towards disadvantaged pupils and a cross-government child poverty strategy to tackle the root causes of educational inequalities.”

Responding the report, Dr Ben Styles, head of classroom practice at the National Foundation for Education Research, added: “Schools are already facing increased challenges due to the impact of the cost of living.

“The new government should aim to develop a long-term strategy that would have a particular focus on very low attaining pupils and closing the disadvantage gap. To do this, it is essential that schools are both adequately funded and supported to do so using evidence-based approaches.”

Focusing on the increasing attainment gap for children starting school, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance (EYA), said: “There is a wealth of research showing that high-quality early education plays an absolutely critical role in narrowing the disadvantage gap at the earliest opportunity. How can it be right, then, that under the current policy approach in this country, a child’s ability to access funded early years provision is almost entirely dependent on their household income?     

“As the rollout of early entitlement expansion continues, we urge the new government to make equality of access a policy priority.”

Last week, Phillipson announced the return of former Covid education recovery tsar Kevan Collins to the Department for Education as an advisor. She also added that responsibility for SEND would move from the children and families brief to education.