Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of Government initiatives launched between 2010 and 2024 in narrowing the attainment gap in schools.

Despite the efforts of dedicated staff, our school system is not serving all children well, with unacceptable disparities in attainment existing across all phases of education and all areas of the country.

Disadvantaged children, especially white working-class children, and those with special educational needs and disabilities are not succeeding as they should.

The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils remains high and persistent at both primary and secondary.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ white paper establishes the department’s plan to improve the outcomes of all children and young people.

When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap will be halved, equating to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.

To deliver this we will provide family support to help more disadvantaged children arrive at reception school ready, strengthen teacher recruitment and retention, broaden the curriculum and offer high-quality enrichment opportunities.