Drive to raise standards of poorest pupils

PUPILS from poorer homes will be given a leg-up to achieve their full potential if a big schools shakeup works as promised.

- BY DAVID WILLIAMSON Chief Political Commentator

The changes to England’s education system are being announced tomorrow, and include measures aimed at getting truants back to class and encouraging headteachers to move to areas most in need. The government says the “disadvantage gap is as stark today as it was over a decade ago in 2014”.

Only 44% of poorer children get a pass at grade four (broadly equivalent to an old C) or above in their maths and English GCSEs, compared with more than seven in 10 children who do not receive free school meals.

Now deprivation funding, previously directed according to free school meals need, will change. It is expected to consider how low the family income is, how long this has been the case, and where the child lives.

The reforms will be detailed in a white paper. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “These are a golden opportunity to cut the link between background and success — one that we must seize.