Govt fails to tackle widening attainment gap

EMBARGO: 00.01 Monday 11th December 2023

The IFS Annual report on education spending in England: 2023 which will be released on Monday found that secondary schools with the most disadvantaged pupils saw spending per pupil fall by 12% in real terms between 2010 and 2021. This is compared with 5% for schools in the most affluent areas.

Commenting the Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said: 

“This Conservative government has let down our children. Today’s IFS report shows that schools serving the most disadvantaged children have faced the biggest spending cuts.  

“Tutoring could have been at the core of an ambitious catch-up plan, but instead the Tories botched the contract with Randstad and spent just a third of what their own advisers said was needed. The result is that the GCSE results gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates is the highest in a decade.

"Liberal Democrats would invest in our children’s future and offer free small-group tutoring to 1.75 million children a year who struggle with their learning. The Conservative Government must put our young people first and provide schools with the resources they desperately need.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The IFS report will be released on Monday 11th December.