Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the change in attainment levels at Key Stage 4 for (a) white, (b) BAME and (c) all pupils who are (i) eligible and (ii) not eligible for free school meals in the last seven years.

The Department has published the attainment levels, at the end of Key Stage 4, for all pupils, split by ethnicity and free school meals eligibility. They are available as part of the Department’s ‘GCSE and equivalents’ statistical first release (SFR)[1].

The Government is determined to deliver an education system that ensures that all pupils – regardless of ethnicity, background or gender – have the opportunity to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them. Through our curriculum and qualification reforms we have set high expectations for what all pupils will achieve. Our performance measures for secondary schools are intended to focus attention on the academic progress made by every pupil during Key Stages 3 and 4, as well as their GCSE attainment.

While pupil attainment does vary by ethnicity, the most significant factor affecting academic performance across all ethnic groups is economic disadvantage. We are helping schools improve the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils by continuing to provide pupil premium funding, worth nearly £2.5 billion in 2017-18. Our new national funding formula for schools, when fully implemented, will also allocate £3 billion – 9.1% of the total funding – based on deprivation factors.

1. [1] For 2015/16, the SFR is located at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2015-to-2016. The data is located in the ‘characteristics national tables: SFR03/2017’ table CH2A.

For 2014/15, the SFR is located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2014-to-2015. The data is located in the ‘characteristics national tables: SFR01/2016’ table CH2A.

For 2010/11 – 2013/14, the SFR is located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2014. The data is located in the ‘national and local authority tables: SFR05/2015’ table 2. All previous years can be accessed here.