"It is impossible to make progress without tackling the deep geographical inequalities in education"

"Addressing the impacts of poverty on education will likely go a long way to closing regional gaps," writes Carl Cullinane, director of research and politics at the University of Sutton. Trust

Pupils across England received their GCSE results today - but youngsters in the North East are faring worse than their peers in the South (

Image: William Lailey SWNS)

Pupils across the country today collected their GCSE results and, judging by the data, the majority of them are likely to have spent the day celebrating with friends and family. They should be rightly proud of their accomplishments in light of what they have faced over the past three years.

There will no doubt be many who will also be disappointed with their grades, including the 39% of children in England who did not achieve a passing grade in maths, up from 35% last year, or close to 36% in 2017. English, up from 30% last year. Many now need to do some catch-up in the upcoming school year in order to take the next steps.

Current data continues to show disparities in achievement between groups, particularly by region. There has been an encouraging improvement in the North East compared to 2019, but it is still the region with the lowest proportion of top marks, while London continues to accelerate ahead of the rest of the country.

Carl Cullinane of the Sutton Trust said young people across the country must have an equal opportunity to succeed.

There are a whole host of factors that could be driving this phenomenon, but chief among them is the varying levels of deprivation across the country. Our research found that in state schools, the proportion of teachers saying that at least a third of their pupils' families were in financial difficulty was highest in Yorkshire, the North East and the North West, i.e. about 43%, compared to only 28% in public schools. Southwest and 27% in the Southeast.

In addition, disadvantaged young people in the most deprived parts of the country have been the most affected by school closures and have faced further disruption due to the cost of living crisis. Addressing the impacts of poverty on education will likely go a long way to narrowing regional gaps. We urgently need a national strategy to close the achievement gap, which is at its highest level in a decade.

It is vital to invest in schools with the highest levels of long-term poverty. The use of evidence-based interventions will also be key, including mentoring through the national mentoring program, which needs to be refocused on closing achievement gaps and placed on a long-term basis.

Improving levels is impossible without tackling deep geographical inequalities in education, but there is an urgent...