Regional gaps in GCSE results remain

GCSE results show the Covid-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis are still having a “disproportionate impact” on some English regions such as the North East, it has been suggested.

“Stubborn” disparities remain between different parts of the country, according to education leaders, and action is needed to tackle these inequalities.

The latest figures, show London and North East England continue to have the highest and lowest proportion of GCSE entries awarded grade 7/A or above in England.

But the gap between the regions has narrowed for the first time in nearly a decade.

In London, 28.5% of entries were awarded 7/A or higher this year, up slightly from 28.4% in 2023, while for North East England the figure was 17.8%, up from 17.6%.

The gap between these two regions this year stood at 10.7 percentage points, down from 10.8 points in 2023.

It is the first time this gap has narrowed year-on-year since 2016, when it fell from 7.7 points to 7.5 points.

Since 2016, it grew every year, peaking at 10.8 points in 2023.

But while there has been a slight narrowing of the gap between the highest and lowest performing regions, there are still concerns that there is a significant gulf in attainment.

Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, which represents 1,150 schools in the region, said students had achieved outstanding results despite facing “enormous disruption” to their schooling in recent years, particularly in the North East.

He said: “Despite these record GCSEs, exam results in 2024 continue to map the disproportionate impact of the pandemic and ‘cost of living’ crises, as well as the long-term perennial educational challenges that regions like the North East face.

“These results were a test of how successful the previous government’s plans were at supporting education recovery post pandemic, especially in disadvantaged areas like the North East.

“It is clear that current education policy is failing to close the disadvantage gap in attainment.”

Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust charity and founder of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “The stubborn regional disparities in attainment are unchanged.”

He added: “To close these gaps and enable pupils to reach their potential, we need sustained investment in teaching, particularly in areas with lower attainment.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said inequalities between regions “have been exacerbated over the last decade by funding cuts to schools and community services, the pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis.”

He added: “Schools do their best to support pupils and close those gaps, but they cannot do this alone. Unfortunately, the previous government failed to provide anything like the resources needed to address these inequalities.

“We welcome the new education secretary’s pledge to address regional disparities. We ask that this approach goes beyond the school gates, and looks at services like social care and mental health to enable children everywhere in the country to thrive at school.”

The latest results show the gap this year at grade 7/A between South East England (24.7%) and North East England (17.8%) is 6.9 points, up slightly from 6.8 points in 2023 but lower than 7.1 points in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Some six of the nine regions of England saw a rise this year in the proportion of GCSE entries awarded grade 7/A or above, with one showing no change (North West England) and two seeing a fall: the East Midlands, down 0.2 points from 18.5% to 18.3%, and eastern England. down 0.5 points from 21.9% to 21.4%.

Nearly all regions of England saw a higher proportion of entries getting the top grades this year compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, with two exceptions: the East Midlands and North West England, where the figures were unchanged.

Across the whole of England, the proportion of entries getting A/7 or higher was 21.7%, up slightly from 21.6% in 2023.

Northern Ireland continues to record the best GCSE performance of any nation or region, with 31.0% of entries this year awarded A/7 or above, down from 34.5% in 2023.

In Wales, the proportion is down from 21.7% in 2023 to 19.2% this year.

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said: “Ofqual do not make available the proportion of young people in exams reaching grade 4 or above by whether they are disadvantaged or not till the autumn, and that is disappointing as the regional differences we see every year are largely a reflection of the differences particularly in the proportions of long-term disadvantaged children by region.

“The Government is rightly focused on the challenge of reducing the disadvantage gap which grew during the pandemic.

“This should be the last year where on results day we have no data on how the nation is doing on this challenge, which is driven not just by educational factors, but by disadvantaged children’s health to their housing situations.”

Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “It is welcome news that regional inequalities in GCSEs have narrowed slightly but it still remains the case that where you happen to live has a huge impact on your educational prospects.

“We must aspire to a world where every child has a fair chance in education and life wherever they happen to come from.”

Here are the percentage of GCSE entries awarded the top grades (7/A or above) by nation and region, with the equivalent figures for 2023 and the pre-pandemic year of 2019:

– North-east England 17.8% (2023: 17.6%; 2019: 16.4%)

– North-west England 18.6% (2023: 18.6%; 2019: 18.6%)

– Yorkshire & the Humber 18.3% (2023: 18.2%; 2019: 17.8%)

– West Midlands 18.5% (2023: 18.4%; 2019: 18.1%)

– East Midlands 18.3% (2023: 18.5%; 2019: 18.3%)

– Eastern England 21.4% (2023: 21.9%; 2019: 20.5%)

– South-west England 21.2% (2023: 20.8%; 2019: 20.4%)

– South-east England 24.7% (2023: 24.4%; 2019: 23.5%)

– London 28.5% (2023: 28.4%; 2019: 25.7%)

– England 21.7% (2023: 21.6%; 2019: 20.7%)

– Wales 19.2% (2023: 21.7%; 2019: 18.4%)

– Northern Ireland 31.0% (2023: 34.5%; 2019: 30.5%)

– All 21.8% (2023: 22.0%; 2019: 20.8%)

Here is the GCSE pass rate (entries awarded 4 or above) by nation and region:

– North-east England 65.2% (2023: 65.3%; 2019: 63.8%)

– North-west England 64.2% (2023: 64.8%; 2019: 64.9%)

– Yorkshire & the Humber 63.9% (2023: 64.4%; 2019: 64.1%)

– West Midlands 63.1% (2023: 63.9%; 2019: 63.8%)

– East Midlands 65.1% (2023: 65.8%; 2019: 65.8%)

– Eastern England 67.9% (2023: 68.6%: 2019: 67.1%)

– South-west England 69.1% (2023: 69.2%; 2019: 68.3%)

– South-east England 70.4% (2023: 70.7%; 2019: 70.2%)

– London 72.5% (2023: 72.6%; 2019: 70.6%)

– England 67.4% (2023: 67.8%; 2019: 67.1%)

– Wales 62.2% (2023: 64.9%; 2019: 62.8%)

– Northern Ireland 82.7% (2023: 86.8%; 2019: 82.2%)

– All 67.6% (2023: 68.2%; 2019: 67.3%)

Published: 22/08/2024 by Radio NewsHub