Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) quantitative and (b) qualitative research his Department has commissioned on the reasons for lower levels of average educational attainment in the different regions and counties of England.

The department’s research and commissioned research are published on GOV.UK. A selection of the research focussed on regional attainment disparities are provided below. These research reports focus on early years, learning loss and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, opportunity areas, and the London effect.

• Regional differences in attainment in the early years: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regional-differences-in-attainment-in-the-early-years
• Education Policy Institute (EPI) research for the Department for Education on pupil learning loss: https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/department-for-education-publishes-new-epi-research-on-pupil-learning-loss/
• Understanding progress in the 2020/21 academic year: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1029841/Understanding_progress_in_the_2020-21_academic_year_Report_4_October2021.pdf
• Opportunity areas: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-mobility-and-opportunity-areas
• Research and analysis overview: Examining the London advantage in attainment: evidence from Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/examining-the-london-advantage-in-attainment-evidence-from-lsype
• Statistics on the attainment of children at each stage are published on Explore Education Statistics by region and local authority: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics