Bright but poor pupils ‘years behind’ well-off counterparts

Library

Bright but poor pupils ‘years behind’ well-off counterparts

Richard Hoogstad looks at a Sutton Trust report highlighting the need to support economically disadvantaged but highly able pupils.



Children in classroom

A report commissioned by the Sutton Trust has revealed that bright but poor pupils in England and Scotland lag behind their better-off classmates in reading, maths and science by about two years and eight months of schooling.

For Wales and Northern Ireland the gap is smaller but reflects a comparatively weaker performance among better-off pupils.

The report, published in February, is based on data from the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment, a study of 15 year-olds’ achievement done every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.

Dr John Jerrim, who conducted the research for University College London’s Institute of Education, looked at the achievement gap between the top 10% of pupils from affluent backgrounds and the same group among their less advantaged peers, comparing these across OECD countries.

Bright pupils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland performed worse than the OECD average, indicating “very big challenges” for those countries, according to Dr Jerrim.

“While England’s brightest pupils score around average in international tests – and better in science – this analysis shows that there are some very big socio-economic gaps in attainment between the brightest pupils from poor and better-off homes,” he said.

Within the UK the socio-economic attainment gap is widest in England because of the stronger performance by its highest achievers – and is even bigger for girls.

Bright but poor girls in England are three years behind their better-off peers in science and reading, which is eight months worse than the gap between boys in science and nine months in reading.

There is no significant gender difference in maths, with a gap of about two years and nine months for both girls and boys.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: “It is staggering that at age 16 bright but poor pupils lag behind their rich classmates by almost three years.

“This results in a huge waste of talent which is why we at the Sutton Trust are calling on government to establish a Highly Able Fund.

“High-potential pupils would be monitored and given specific support. This would improve social mobility at the top by widening access to leading universities and to top jobs.”