Looking across all phases of education, London continues to outperform the rest of the country for its disadvantaged students in 2024. The disadvantage gap in London has increased since 2019 among children in early years and primary school and decreased among older students (secondary school and 16-19 education). The West Midlands has the second smallest disadvantage gap in 2024 in all four key stages. The West Midlands has also seen some of the smallest increases across early years, key stage 2 and key stage 4 since 2019, and had decreases in the gap in the 16-19 phase.
Early years foundation stage
Nationally, the disadvantage gap at the end of reception was 4.7 months in 2024, an increase of 0.5 months since 2019, the most recent pre-pandemic year. London outperformed the rest of the country, with its disadvantaged pupils 3.4 months behind their peers in 2024. The second smallest gap was in the West Midlands, where disadvantaged pupils were 4.3 months behind. The East of England, North West and Yorkshire and The Humber had the largest gaps (at 5.5, 5.4 and 5.0 months, respectively). When comparing these figures to 2019, just one region – the South West – saw no change in its gap (at 4.9 months), with all other regions experiencing wider gaps in 2024 than in 2019. This was most notable in the East of England where the disadvantage gap grew by one month, followed by London (+0.8 months).
Primary school
Nationally, disadvantaged students at the end of primary school were 10 months behind their peers in 2024. This is a 0.8-month increase since 2019.
The South West and the South East stand out as those that have experienced the greatest increases in the disadvantage gap since the onset of the pandemic, with the gap widening further by 1.4 and 1.1 months respectively. These two regions now have the most pronounced disadvantage gaps in England, with disadvantaged pupils in the South West lagging behind their peers by 12.5 months and by 11.8 months in the South East.
The smallest disadvantage gap was in London, where pupils are 5.7 months behind their peers, followed by pupils in the West Midlands, who are 9.6 months behind. The disadvantage gap in the West Midlands has remained virtually unchanged since 2019. The two northernmost regions have also shown significant increases in the disadvantage gap, with the North East experiencing a rise of 0.9 months and the North West seeing an increase of 0.8 months. No region has experienced a reduction in the disadvantage gap at the end of primary school since 2019.
Secondary school
Nationally the disadvantage gap widens as pupils progress through the education system, reaching 19.1 months by the end of secondary school in 2024—an increase of a month since 2019.
By the time pupils sit their GCSEs, the disparity between London and other regions becomes even more pronounced. Compared to London, where the disadvantage gap is 10.2 months, the next smallest gap is in the West Midlands at 19.2 months.
Since 2019, London is the only region where the disadvantage gap has reduced. In contrast, the East Midlands and the South East have experienced the greatest increases in the gap, with rises of 1.7 and 1.5 months, respectively. They also have the widest gaps, with disadvantaged students in the East Midlands trailing their peers by 21.7 months and those in the South East behind by 22.1 months.
16-19 education
The gap between disadvantaged students and their peers nationally at the end of their 16-19 education in 2024 was 3.3 grades, slightly wider than in 2019. Once again, London had the smallest gap (1.3 grades), followed by the West Midlands (3.1 grades). On the other hand, the North East and the South West had the largest gaps in 2024, with disadvantaged students 4.2 grades behind their peers in both regions. Looking at changes since 2019, three out of the nine regions saw a reduction in their disadvantage gaps. Gaps in the East Midlands, West Midlands and London have all reduced by 0.2 grades. Conversely, the North West is the region where the gap has increased the most, by 0.3 grades.
Foreword & EXECUTIVE SUMMARYDisadvantage
genderGeoGraphic Disadvantage Gaps