The Education Policy Institute (EPI) Annual Report looks at the state of education in England, with a focus on the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.

EPI’s 2024 Annual Report compares student attainment in examinations sat in 2023 to when examinations took place before the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2019. The report analyses attainment gaps based on economic disadvantage, gender, ethnicity, English as an additional language (EAL), Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and geography.

Later this year, EPI will undertake additional research to further our understanding of what is driving the attainment gaps identified in this report, including the role of school absence.

You can access all sections of the 2024 EPI Annual Report, as well as our Executive Summary, using the links below. 

Foreword & executive summary         methodology

disadvantage                                                gender

EAL                                                            send

ethnicity                                                     geographic disadvantage gaps

Below, you can also find links to EPI’s previous reports on the disadvantage gap:

2023 EPI Annual Report

Covid-19 and disadvantage gaps in England 2021

Covid-19 and Disadvantage gaps in England 2020

2020 EPI Annual Report

2019 EPI Annual Report

2018 EPI Annual Report

2016 EPI Annual Report

Acknowledgements 

This report has been kindly funded by the Sequoia Trust and Unbound Philanthropy.  

Unbound Philanthropy is an independent private grantmaking foundation that invests in leaders and organizations in the US and UK working to build a vibrant, welcoming society and just immigration system.