The key stage 4 attainment gap has widened on two headline measures, Department for Education data shows, although the disadvantage gap index has narrowed very slightly.
The gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students for achieving grade 5 or above in English, maths and Attainment 8 has increased slightly, compared with both 2022-23 and the last academic year before the pandemic, 2018-19.
The percentage-point gap for students achieving grade 5s in English and maths grew from 27.2 in 2022-23 to 27.3 in 2023-24. The average Attainment 8 gap increased from 13.6 points in 2018-19 and 15.3 in 2022-23, to 15.5 in new for 2023-24.
The disadvantage gap index decreased very slightly in 2023-24, from 3.94 to 3.92, but remains wider than it has been since 2010-11.
Impact on EBacc
The 2022-23 school year showed the impact of the widening disadvantage gap on entry to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and other headline measures: 27.7 per cent of students classified as disadvantaged entered the EBacc, while only one in four (25.2 per cent) of disadvantaged student achieved grade 5s in maths and English, below the average of 45.3 per cent.
In today’s data for 2023-24, non-disadvantaged students averaged a Progress 8 score of 0.16, meaning they progressed more than expected when compared with others in their prior attainment group. Disadvantaged students, on average, achieved over half a grade less than expected by the end of KS4 and had an average Progress 8 score of -0.57.
In the new figures for 2023-24, the attainment gap has widened for English and maths grade 5s between students with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and those receiving special educational needs and disabilities support.
Students with an EHCP have an average Progress 8 score of -1.13.
The percentage of students entering the EBacc overall was 40.4 per cent, up from 39.3 per cent in 2022-23.
Average Attainment 8 and EBacc average point scores (APS) in 2023-24 were 45.9 and 4.07 respectively, a very small decrease for Attainment 8 and a small increase for the EBacc. In 2022-23, the average Attainment 8 score was 46.3 and the average EBacc APS score was 4.05.
Of the students who entered four out of five of the EBacc components, 89 per cent were missing the languages component, a slight increase from 88.9 per cent in 2022-23 and 86 per cent in 2018-19.
Language learning in schools has been hit by issues with teacher shortages, leading to missed EBacc targets and harsh grading in recent years.
Regional divides remain
The GCSE results released in the summer showed that the English and maths GCSE pass rate had fallen from the year before, although this was mainly driven by resits for students aged 17 or over.
In general, there were similar proportions of students in 2023-24 achieving a grade 4 or above to those recorded in 2022-23.
The summer results data had shown an increasing gap between state and private schools in achieving top grades. The north-south divide in GCSE results had also remained steady at 10.7 percentage points.
Today’s data shows Attainment 8 remains at its lowest in the North East, at 43.7, compared with London at the highest (50.8). Similarly, the North East has an average Progress 8 score of -0.25 (0.29 for London).
This is the last cohort of Progress 8 data that will be available until 2026-27. Andrew O’Neill, headteacher of All Saints Catholic College in London, warned this week that pausing P8 could make measuring school performance “more unfair” if schools are measured purely on attainment.
The KS4 data comes as the curriculum and assessment review, led by Professor Becky Francis, is ongoing. It includes a focus on performance measures.
The disadvantage gap remained steady in last week’s A-level data for 2023-24.
Publication of this KS4 data was delayed in October. Tes revealed that headteachers reported a “far larger than usual number of errors” in the results data when they checked it.
Some schools had also faced difficulties in downloading their data to check it.
On today’s KS4 data, Sutton Trust research and policy director Carl Cullinane said it was “appalling to see [that] the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their better-off peers remains wide”.
He added that the government must set out a national strategy for tackling this issue, or it “amounts to nothing less than a ticking time bomb for equality of opportunity and social mobility”.
Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the new data makes clear there has been little change in outcomes or the scale of the challenge in recent years, and shows that schools will need more support.
Ms Hannafin blamed the Conservative government for not giving schools the resources to help pupils catch up after the Covid pandemic, “while funding for disadvantaged pupils stagnated, and there was not enough investment in vital community support”.
She said that exam success for some students was limited by “knowledge-focused, content-heavy GCSEs with too much reliance on high-stakes terminal tests and exams”. The curriculum and assessment review was a “golden opportunity” to improve outcomes with a broader curriculum that valued all subjects and skills, as well as a reduction in the number of exams at the end of Year 11.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
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