Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has promised to address the deep-rooted inequalities in educational outcomes to provide young people from all backgrounds with equal opportunities to succeed in life. As the A-level results day approaches, she criticized the Conservative Party for perpetuating regional disparities and a significant attainment gap between students from private and state schools.
Phillipson emphasized that societal failures have led to many children living in poverty and schools struggling to support families, which has become a major driver of educational disparities among students with different levels of advantage. She called on universities to enhance access to higher education and provide ongoing support to students to prevent dropouts.
Recent findings from the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers has widened over the past decade, despite substantial funding aimed at addressing the issue. The report highlighted a lack of strategy from the Department for Education (DfE) in tackling this problem effectively.
While the attainment gap for primary school students has slightly narrowed in the past year, it remains wider than it was ten years ago. For key stage 4 pupils, the gap between those on free school meals and their peers has increased since 2011/12. Phillipson expressed her commitment to ensuring that all young people, regardless of their background, have equal opportunities to succeed in education and beyond.
She also mentioned Labour’s new initiative to combat child poverty, bringing together experts to address this critical issue. Phillipson stressed the importance of quality teaching, school resources, and support beyond the classroom in reducing the number of children living in poverty.
Sir Ian Bauckham, the chief regulator of Ofqual, expressed concern about the growing disparities between students from different backgrounds. He emphasized the need to collectively prioritize closing these gaps and ensuring a fair assessment and qualification system that accurately reflects student knowledge and skills.
As the results day approaches, there is anticipation for a breakdown of results by school type to shed light on the disparities in educational outcomes. The hope is that these findings will demonstrate progress in closing the attainment gap and serve as evidence of effective policies.
The Conservative Party has yet to respond to these concerns raised by Bridget Phillipson and education regulators. The focus remains on addressing inequalities in education to provide every young person with a fair chance to succeed in life.
