Mind the gap More must be done to halt regional gulf in attainment

One of the messages the education secretary was keen to get across during her media round to coincide with A-level results was the government's commitment to tackling the "yawning inequalities" in educational attainment in England.

- Sally Weale

Bridget Phillipson, a Sunderland MP who grew up in the north-east, is well aware of educational disadvantage and how some regions are worse affected than others. In the run-up to results day, she has made a point of drawing attention to poor exam outcomes for students from white working-class backgrounds.

She says the government's "plan for change", including "reformed early years and revitalised family services", alongside wider efforts to tackle disadvantage, including an expansion of free school meals and free breakfast clubs across the country, will help address inequalities. But is it enough to bring about real change?

Regional disparities in education are nothing new, but what has concerned experts is that this year's results reveal the gap between the strongest and weakest performing areas in England has widened.