MPs demand action to improve education in the north
The Parliamentary Education Committee wrote to Education Secretary Damian Hinds after a hearing last week with former chancellor George Osborne and other representatives of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership which highlighted a “stark educational attainment gap between the north and other parts of England, particularly for disadvantaged pupils”.
Now Robert Halfon, the Chair of the Committee, has asked what action the Department for Education is taking to implement recommendations from the partnership’s latest report. These include a proposal to “better target” pupil premium funding at the most disadvantaged, and improve careers guidance for the poorest pupils.
Robert Halfon said the recent ‘Educating the North’ report showed “clear analysis of the challenges” facing the region, and an “important role for the Department for Education to play” in tackling these problems.
He said: “At the end of key stage 4, Attainment 8 scores of northern pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds were 13 points behind those of their fellow pupils,
“Northern pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve lower attainment levels than disadvantaged pupils elsewhere in the country (1.3 points below the national average and 6.5 points below their peers in London).”
Read the full article in Schools Week.