Regional gaps

Educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils vary significantly depending on where they live. In 2025, London continued to record the highest outcomes for disadvantaged pupils across phases. The West Midlands also showed consistently smaller gaps than most other regions across all four key stages, an established pattern that we have seen over several successive EPI annual reports. 

However, changes between 2019 and 2025 reveal a more nuanced pattern. While the West Midlands has demonstrated marked resilience, the South East stands out as a region where the gap has significantly widened across school phases since 2019.  

London’s progress has been more mixed. The capital’s disadvantage gap has increased since 2019 among younger pupils but decreased among 16-19 students. In the most recent year, London’s GCSE gap widened more than in any other region, which may have implications for whether its comparatively strong outcomes for disadvantaged learners are sustained. 

Crucially, our cross-phase analysis shows the lasting impact of early disadvantage gaps: regions that start with the smallest gaps at age 5 sustain their advantage through to 16-19, while in others, the disadvantage gap only compounds as pupils progress through the education system, though there are exceptions. Regions that repeatedly have the largest gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils are the South East and South West. Throughout our analysis, we compare disadvantaged pupils in each region with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally, allowing comparisons to be made across England.

Early years foundation stage 

The national disadvantage gap at age 5 reached 4.9 months in 2025, an increase of 0.7 months since 2019, making it the widest recorded in over a decade. In line with this national increase, every region saw its gap widen between 2019 and 2025.  

Within this overall widening, London recorded the smallest disadvantage gap at 3.4 months in 2025, followed by the West Midlands at 4.4 months. In contrast, the largest gaps were found in the East of England (5.7 months), the North West (5.6 months), and the North East (5.5 months). 

When comparing these figures to 2019, the pace at which the gap has widened varies significantly across regions. The North East and East of England experienced the sharpest increases, with their gaps widening by 1.4 and 1.2 months, respectively. The South East and London also saw notable increases of 0.8 months each.  

Meanwhile, the West Midlands saw the smallest rise, with its gap increasing by just 0.2 months,  less than half the growth in the South West (0.5 months), the region with the second-smallest increase since 2019.  

 

Primary school 

Nationally, disadvantaged pupils at the end of primary school were 10.0 months behind their peers in 2025, unchanged from 2024 but a 0.8-month increase since 2019. 

By far, the smallest disadvantage gap was in London, where pupils were 5.6 months behind their peers, followed by the West Midlands (with a gap of 9.2 months) and the North East (9.8 months). The largest gaps were in the South West (12.5 months), South East (12.0 months), East of England (11.7 months) and East Midlands (11.0 months). 

Consistent with the widening national gap, nearly all regions saw their gap widen since 2019 except for the West Midlands, where the gap narrowed by 0.4 months. While the East Midlands and London saw only small increases (of +0.3 months and +0.4 months, respectively), the largest increases were in the South West (+1.5 months) and South East (+1.4 months). 

Overall, the South West and South East stand out as regions that have struggled with the disadvantage gap since the onset of the pandemic, with their disadvantaged pupils falling furthest behind, while London and the West Midlands have fared significantly better since 2019. These patterns are largely replicated looking at changes over the last year alone. However, the North East saw the largest increase in the KS2 gap over the most recent year, rising by 4.2 months between 2024 and 2025. This sharp one-year change should be monitored closely, particularly given the government’s recent focus on educational outcomes in the region.  

 

Secondary school 

Nationally, by the end of secondary school, disadvantaged pupils were 19.0 months behind their peers in 2025, the joint-widest gap since the start of the series in 2013, and a full month wider than before the pandemic. 

By the time pupils sit their GCSEs, the disparity between London and other regions becomes even more pronounced. London had a disadvantage gap of just 10.8 months – little higher than the national gap at key stage 2, while the next smallest gap was once again in the West Midlands (at almost twice as large, at 19.8 months). 

Similar to key stage 2, the regions with the two largest GCSE disadvantage gaps in 2025 were the South East (22.2 months) and the South West (21.3 months), followed by the East Midlands (20.9 months) and East of England (20.7 months).   

Since 2019, all regions have seen their gaps increase, with the exception of the North East where the gap fell slightly (by 0.1 month). While several regions saw modest increases of around half a month (North West, West Midlands, London and the South West), by far the largest increase was in the South East with a gap increase of 2.0 months.  

Overall, the South East once again stands out as a region that has struggled with its disadvantage gap in the wake of the pandemic, in contrast to London. However, looking at changes in just the most recent year, it is clear that London (where the gap has increased by 1.2 months since 2024, substantially more than in any other region) was the largest contributor to the increase in the national gap. 

16-19 education 

The national attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers at the end of 16-19 education stood at 3.4 grades in 2025, slightly wider than in 2019. This is equivalent to more than a full grade per subject. 

London continued to have by far the smallest 16-19 disadvantage gap, at 1.4 grades. This reflects a pattern seen throughout the education system: London has the smallest gap at every phase, from reception through to 16-19 education, though there are early signs that London’s advantage could be shrinking at key stage 4. The West Midlands had the second-smallest 16-19 gap at 3.2 grades, consistent with its strong performance at earlier key stages. 

At the other end of the distribution, the North East and South West recorded the largest 16-19 gaps in 2025, with disadvantaged students 4.4 grades behind their peers in both regions. The South West has also recorded among the largest gaps at primary and secondary school, suggesting that regional disadvantage can compound as pupils move through the education system. However, the North East’s large 16-19 gap contrasts with a more mixed picture pre-16. 

Since 2019, only three of the nine regions have seen their 16-19 disadvantage gaps narrow. London recorded the largest reduction, with its gap falling by 0.4 grades, while the East Midlands and West Midlands each saw smaller reductions of 0.2 grades. Conversely, the North West experienced the greatest widening of the gap, increasing by 0.3 grades.  

These regional 16-19 gaps should be interpreted with some caution, as there may be regional differences in post-16 participation which affect who is included in the attainment measure, alongside differences in attainment among those who continue in education.

 

 

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