Educational gap: More than 30,000 poorer children going to a school rated less than good (Image: Getty Images)
The educational gap has widened with more than 30,000 poorer children going to a school rated less than good compared to May 2016 - while the richest are more likely to attend an outstanding one. Data published today to coincide with secondary school offer day, found that 35 percent of children from disadvantaged backgrounds attend a school rated as inadequate or requires improvement - up from 28 percent in 2016. But when it comes to the wealthiest postcodes only eight percent of pupils attend a school rated as less than good, a figure which has remained unchanged over the past three years.
Just 17 percent of children from the poorest backgrounds attend a school rated as outstanding, down from 22 percent in the same period.
Forty-four percent of those from wealthier families attend a school rated outstanding, up from 40 percent in 2016.
Russell Hobby, chief executive of Teach First, a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage, said: "It's deeply concerning that in recent years we've seen an increase in young people attending schools rated as less than good - and it's those from the poorest background that have been hit the hardest. It's only through investing in our young people - and providing every child with an outstanding education - that we will have a workforce ready to take on whatever shape the post-Brexit landscape will take."
Natalie Perera, of the Education Policy Institute, said: "Disadvantaged children are around a year and a half behind their wealthier peers by the time they leave secondary school."
Up to 115,000 pupils are expected not
