There is a “looming inequality crisis” among five-year-olds, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has warned.
The think tank’s latest annual report, , reveals that the 3 per cent of five-year-olds with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) were, collectively, an average of 20.1 months behind their peers in 2024.
This is the widest attainment gap since 2013, according to the EPI, which has drawn its data from the Reception Baseline Assessment and early years foundation stage profile.
Meanwhile, disadvantaged five-year-olds are falling further behind their more affluent peers, the EPI has found, as the impact of the pandemic appears to have had “long-lasting” effects on children’s development.
‘Looming inequality crisis’
The early years attainment gap reached 4.7 months in 2024, up from 4.6 months in 2023.
The think tank says the findings reveal a “looming inequality crisis” and it calls on the government to increase funding for disadvantaged pupils and to prioritise training in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The research also finds that the 10 per cent of pupils receiving SEN support by the end of the Reception year were more than a year (12.6 months) behind children with no identified SEND, as of 2024.
This was up from 12.5 months in 2023 and, again, represents the largest gap between these groups since 2013.
For Year 6 pupils with an EHCP, the attainment gap fell by 0.3 months between 2023 and 2024, based on key stage 2 results.
Warning of ‘lifelong’ disadvantage
Natalie Perera, chief executive of the EPI, said: “Several years on, the education system has yet to recover from the profound impact of the pandemic. Our youngest and most vulnerable learners are still paying the price. This should be a significant concern for policymakers.”
She added: “Without swift action, we are baking lifelong disadvantage into the system.”
To address the SEND attainment gap, the EPI is calling for the government to “prioritise training in child development and different types of SEND, making it a mandatory part of initial teacher training and early career development”.
The think tank also calls for school absence to be tackled, SEND identification to be improved and the expansion of school-based mental health provision.
Disadvantage gap: recommendations for government
Further recommendations for the government to address the disadvantage gap include:
- Publishing the delayed child poverty strategy.
- Matching the early years pupil premium to the pupil premium in later school years.
- Introducing a new student premium in the 16-19 phase.
- Abolishing the two-child benefit gap.
- Introducing free school meals auto-enrolment.
Ms Perera added: “The government’s child poverty strategy is already overdue - further delay is no longer acceptable. Higher levels of funding for disadvantage, addressing student absence and fixing the SEND system, which is at crisis point, are urgent priorities.”
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
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