Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the increase in the attainment gap between white boys eligible for free school meals and white boys not eligible for free school meals from 31 to 33 percentage points between 2015 and 2017; which schools have countered that trend; and what steps are being taken to disseminate their practice.

A list of state-funded schools which had a decrease in the attainment gap between white males who were and were not eligible for free school meals (FSM) between 2014/15 and 2016/17 can be found in the attachment. The attainment measure used is achievement of A*-C/9-4 English and maths. The Education Endowment Foundation, funded by the Department of Education with £137 million to research and promote the most effective ways of improving the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils, is working in hundreds of English schools to show how all schools can make a difference to their disadvantaged pupils’ futures.

There were reforms to GCSE qualifications and associated attainment measures between 2015 and 2017 that mean the published figures for attainment of English and maths are not directly comparable. The analysis for this response accounts for this by applying the 2015 measure to the 2017 data. On this consistent basis, the attainment gap between FSM and non-FSM eligible pupils increased by 1 percentage point overall between 2015 and 2017. The attainment gap that these schools represent is not equal to the one calculated from published figures[1].

[1] Includes pupils eligible to be included in school level results, rather than national level results – this leads to small differences in the cohort compared to the published figures. Schools are included where they have at least six white male pupils who are eligible for FSM and six who are not; this is to protect the confidentiality of pupils in line with the department’s confidentiality policy (attached). Schools also must have a valid cohort in both years in order for the attainment gap change to be calculated – this mainly affects schools that closed or opened after 2014/15. Caution should be taken when looking at the change in attainment at school level due to the relatively small cohort sizes at some schools. The effect of a few low/high attaining pupils may greatly influence the overall change in attainment at a school with a small cohort; whilst some schools appear to have significant swings in the attainment gap, in many cases this will be a function of the changing cohort in the school over time.