Closing the educational attainment gaps

Monday, August 3, 2015

Category: News

Closing the educational attainment gaps at schools in England

Research by the Department of Education at Oxford University shows gaps in educational achievement at age 16 have decreased substantially over the last 25 years, particularly in the attainment of different ethnic groups. The research shows pupils from most ethnic minority groups are now on average achieving GCSE results that are as good or better than their White British peers.

The study by Professor Steve Strand, commissioned for the Department for Education, draws on data for attainment and ethnicity between 1991 and 2013. It shows that Indian and Chinese pupils are now pulling well ahead of their White British classmates, with Bangladeshi and Black African students improving their GCSE grades significantly and starting to do better, on average, than white British pupils. This is despite the fact that Bangladeshi and black African students are often from very socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Other press coverage:

GCSE results: 2010 exam boycott comes back to haunt schools
The Guardian 20 August 2015

Attainment gaps between ethnic groups narrow – but poverty gaps remain
SecEd (Main), 10/09/2015, p.2, Emma Lee-Potter
Pupils from most ethnic minority groups are now achieving GCSE results that are as good as or better than their White British peers. Research by Professor Steve Strand of Oxford University, commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE), has found that gaps in educational achievement at the age of 16 have narrowed substantially over the last 25 years, particularly when it comes to the attainment of different ethnic groups.
Professor Strand found that Indian and Chinese pupils are pulling well ahead of their White British peers, while Bangladeshi and Black African students are significantly improving their GCSE grades and starting to do better on average than their White British classmates, even though they are often from very socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Prof Strand said: “Huge strides have been made in schools in England in closing the gap in educational attainment. These results show what can be achieved with targeted funding, particularly the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant that ran until 2012/13, and the strong focus through policies, including Excellence in Cities, and programmes through the National Strategies. Children disadvantaged for social and economic reasons now do better at school than in the past.”

The report download is available here.