Best Practice

Five principles for tackling the disadvantage gap in schools

Pupil Premium and disadvantage Vulnerable children Poverty
While government action is crucial if we are to close the achievement gap between rich and poor, there are many things schools can do as well. Tiffnie Harris offers five principles for building a successful programme
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The disadvantage gap is arguably education’s most obdurate problem. Gains are hard won and easily lost. Since 2011, the gaps at ages 11 and 16 narrowed slightly and then widened again following the pandemic. They are now pretty much back to where they started.

Earlier this month, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, published its analysis of what awaits the next government (Farquharson et al, 2024). It highlights many strengths, including the fact that England is one of the best-performing countries in terms of school-age attainment.

But it notes: “At every stage of education, children from less advantaged backgrounds perform significantly worse.”

The disadvantage gap starts to emerge at a young age and gets wider as children get older.

Analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), based on GCSE results from 2021, showed that disadvantaged students achieve 1.34 grades lower than their peers (Tuckett et al, 2022). Children living in persistent poverty (defined by the EPI as those who have been eligible for free school meals for 80% or more of their school lives) achieve 1.7 grades lower.

None of this will be of any surprise to those working tirelessly in schools and colleges to close the gap through a range of targeted interventions and support.

The trouble – as you’ll know only too well – is that these children are often affected by barriers to learning which are the product of wider socio-economic factors.

Official figures state that 4.2 million children are now living in relative poverty (household income below 60% of the median after housing costs). This is 29% of all UK children. Of these, 2.7 million are living in “deep poverty” – families below 50% of the median income. Furthermore, 21% of children who live in relative poverty are now also living in food insecure households (DWP, 2023).

In many instances, these children lack basic amenities, such as adequate food, clothing, and housing, which is not only utterly deleterious to their wellbeing, but which also means that they are unlikely to be in a fit condition to learn.

Schools often try to fill this literal gap by providing food and clothing themselves, but they are doing this in the context of the wider erosion of local support services, which have been decimated over the past decade-and-a-half.

For education to be the agent of change – which it certainly can be – this manifestly must be supported by wider social policies.

This is why ending child poverty is number one of ASCL's 10 asks for education in our #EducationMatters campaign and manifesto in the run-up to the general election on July 4.

And, while that is a significant long-term undertaking, there are immediate actions which can and must be taken – such as extending the criteria for free school meal eligibility to all families in receipt of Universal Credit and introducing a system of auto-enrolment for all eligible children and young people.

Aside from the need for government action, there are also the strategies used by schools to support disadvantaged children, and below is a summary of five principles for building a successful programme. These are drawn from ASCL’s professional development programme delivered alongside Marc Rowland, an expert in this field.

 

The Headteacher Update Podcast: Supporting Pupil Premium and disadvantaged children. In this episode, three schools talk about their work to support Pupil Premium and disadvantaged pupils and the impact of the cost of living crisis, offering tips, advice and examples of best practice. Listen back for here.

 

1, Build a culture of success for all

It is vital that schools invest heavily in a culture and belief that all pupils, irrespective of background or starting point, can attain well and thrive in wider school life and beyond.

For this to be successful, it cannot just be the responsibility of one or two staff members to promote this culture but needs to be owned by every member of staff.

 

2, Understand the impact of disadvantage

The Department for Education defines disadvantage as children registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

However, there are many families who do not meet that definition but are struggling financially nevertheless, and then there is disadvantage in a wider sense. This may include issues such as SEND, families who are being supported by social care, young people who are acting as carers, and pupils with English as an additional language.

Schools are best placed to determine what disadvantage means in their context, how it impacts upon their pupils, and what provision to put in place.

 

3, Use evidence and avoid labels

Of course, labels such as disadvantage, SEND and FSM can themselves be unhelpful as successful provision is built around individuals.

There are a range of familiar tools which will help you to understand what support is needed – such as diagnostic assessment and observations of learning behaviours, speech, listening and non-verbal communication.

Look also at prior attainment, attendance and behaviour reports, and historical trends to see how pupils are progressing.

Strategies should be implemented and applied consistently with focus and precision.

 

4, Build strong relationships

Understand the day-to-day experiences of your disadvantaged pupils. What are their lives like and what are their barriers to learning?

Wealthier families often have the resources and financial means to provide their children with a range of opportunities and support outside school – everything from music lessons to computer equipment.

This may not be possible for disadvantaged families, and it is useful to think about how you might be able to compensate for this in school.

Consider curriculum design, affordability of trips (and if not going on a visit is a barrier to high achievement), relationships with parents, and the availability (and cost of) extra-curricular opportunities.

 

5, Build word power

Interventions may include measures such as support for reading, numeracy, oracy, and wider pastoral factors such as social and emotional wellbeing.

But it is worth considering in particular the “word gap” which may hold back disadvantaged children.

Jessie Ricketts, co-lead from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, explains in research published in 2023 that: “Reading skills are critical for children to succeed at school, but many are not getting the targeted support they need.” (Ricketts et al, 2023)

The report found a direct relationship between the number of times children read a word and their ability to understand and remember it.

It said: “If we can help children to read more proficiently, then other benefits are likely to follow, such as better learning of new vocabulary and more time spent reading. Similarly, if reading proficiency is low, then children are going to be struggling to learn new words.”

 

Final thoughts

Talking of words, millions of them have been written over the years about closing the disadvantage gap but achieving that objective has proven extremely difficult.

It is clearly going to need a society-wide effort which goes beyond education and perhaps now is the moment for that to happen.

We will shortly have a new government in post – of whatever political complexion that is – and that must be a time to work collaboratively and redouble our efforts.

Closing the disadvantage gap is arguably the key to building the fairer, stronger, and happier society that we all want to see. It is an ambition that can and must be achieved.

 

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