Why Where You Live Can Affect Your School Grades – And the Gap Between Areas Is Only Widening

Published: 20 August 2025 | The English Chronicle Desk

A leading think tank has warned that stark inequalities in England’s education system are widening, with pupils in London outperforming children in other parts of the country at an accelerating rate. The Institute for Government (IfG) says that despite repeated pledges to narrow the attainment gap, successive governments have failed to produce a credible strategy to address what it describes as a growing crisis in fairness and opportunity.

The report highlights that educational inequalities, already entrenched before Covid, have “grown wider and more pronounced” since the pandemic. The disruption of lockdowns, the uneven provision of remote learning, and the persistent challenges facing disadvantaged pupils have deepened divisions both regionally and socially. While London continues to record above-average results, children in parts of the North and Midlands remain significantly behind their peers.

New data underscores the scale of the divide. The average Key Stage 4 attainment rate — the proportion of pupils achieving at least a pass in English and Maths GCSEs — stands at 65 per cent nationally. Yet in Knowsley, a deprived area in Merseyside, that figure drops to 40 per cent, while in the affluent borough of Richmond upon Thames in west London it rises as high as 83 per cent. The story is similar at primary level. Last year, 69 per cent of pupils in London met expected standards at Key Stage 2, compared with just 61 per cent nationally. Between 2019 and 2024, national KS2 attainment fell from 65 per cent to 61 per cent, with mathematics and writing suffering the sharpest declines. London, by contrast, recorded only a two-point drop, widening the attainment gap with the rest of England from six to nine percentage points.

The disparities are not only regional but also social. The gap in GCSE outcomes between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students has widened in most local authorities since 2019, according to the IfG. Although the government has committed to “closing gaps in outcomes” for children on free school meals and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, the think tank argues that no clear or coherent plan has been set out to achieve these goals.

Some measures have been introduced. Earlier this year, ministers expanded free school meal provision to an additional half a million children, claiming this would lift 100,000 pupils out of poverty and save families up to £500 annually. But critics say such interventions do not go far enough to address systemic inequalities. Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon and member of the Commons education select committee, said funding disparities between regions remain stark.

“A Camden school is paid nearly three times as much as a school in Devon for every child with additional needs on their roll,” she said. “So they can afford more teaching assistants, more specialist help, better facilities, extracurricular activities, healthier food, music, arts and sport specialists. Is it any wonder that children outside of London are missing out? Frankly, it’s a scandal.”

Education charities have echoed these concerns. James Toop, chief executive of Teach First, warned that the pandemic had “set back a generation” and that disadvantaged pupils were paying the highest price. “Progress since then has been limited, with inequalities continuing to grow,” he said. “The government must do all it can to deliver on its mission, starting by attracting and incentivising the brightest and best teachers to work where they are needed most.”

The IfG report suggests that London’s advantage is partly structural: its diverse demographic mix, combined with the capital’s appeal as a place to live and work, makes it easier to attract highly qualified teachers. But it also identifies absenteeism as a critical challenge. Government data shows that nearly 150,000 pupils were classified as “severely absent” in autumn 2024, meaning they missed at least half of all school sessions.

Amber Dellar, an IfG researcher and author of the report, said: “The pandemic has undone much of the last decade’s progress in tackling educational inequalities, leaving some areas and groups of children far behind. The government’s opportunity mission is a good starting point, but it lacks a clear vision for delivery. Any serious plan must focus on reducing high absence rates and helping schools share what works in supporting disadvantaged pupils.”

As tens of thousands of students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland prepare to receive their GCSE results this week, the findings will add to pressure on ministers to explain how they plan to narrow the gulf between the country’s best-performing and most disadvantaged regions. For now, the evidence suggests that where a child lives continues to play a decisive role in their educational outcomes — and the gap is only widening.