Education in England still ‘patchy’, FEA claims

The Fair Education Alliance (FEA) has published a report which claims access to good schooling in England remains patchy, despite some progress being made.

The FEA has called for more to be done to achieve consistently good education standards, and recommends overhauling careers guidance and increasing efforts to promote pupils’ wellbeing.

The report follows the organisations publication of targets in 2014, which aimed to close the gap in opportunities and achievement by 2022. The goals included: narrowing the gap in literacy and numeracy achievement in primary schools and at GCSE; ensuring young people develop key strengths such as character and good mental health; narrowing the gulf in the numbers of youngsters continuing their education and training after GCSEs; and narrowing the gap between rich and poor students graduating from university.

The FEA’s report analyses the progress made, since the targets were set. It found some schools and regions were providing high quality education for pupils, irrespective of background and praised instances where this was the case.

Richard Lambert, FEA chairman, said: “More parents who can afford to make the choice are now choosing to send their children to state schools, many more of which are featuring in the lists of the nation's top performers.”

However, Lambert argues: ”But the big picture is still much too patchy. Progress is uneven, and in some cases non-existent. And the report shows that inequality is not just the result of income differentials. There is also a geographic divide between good and bad outcomes.

"On the current trajectory, the targets that we have set for reducing inequality in the school and higher education system by 2022 will not be achieved. That would leave another generation of young people condemned to second-class schooling through no fault of their own. So we have to redouble our efforts."

The report recommends various measures to help close the achievement gap, including: more investment in early years education; ensuring all schools have access to good examples of top quality teaching and leadership; good careers guidance for all pupils; extra support for teachers, such as a mortgage deposit scheme to help high-performing school staff get on the housing ladder; and promoting and measuring character development, wellbeing and mental health in schools.

The report said: "At a national level, some progress has been made in closing the gaps for some of the poorest children and young people in England. Despite small overall improvements in outcomes for these young people, progress is uneven and education still remains particularly unfair in some parts of the country.

"In mapping the education journey of children at schools serving low income communities or those from poor families, a school pattern emerges. Within the same area, poorer children are better served by some schools than others, and in these better schools they are achieving above expectation.

"Often underpinning this success are a whole school approach to achievement, enrichment activities, the development of character and high expectations."