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40 per cent of the poorest children leave primary school functionally illiterate, according to new Centre for Social Justice report exposing England’s educational inequality

• Only seven per cent of primary schools on track to meet radical Conservative plans to ‘end illiteracy in a generation’

• Two year Ofsted ‘inspection holiday’ to get best head teachers to worst performing state schools

• Offer successful academy chains payment-by-result contracts to take over failing schools

• Thousands of children face education lottery – in some local authorities less than a quarter of the poorest children achieve five good GCSEs including Maths and English

Sending more children from challenging backgrounds to state boarding schools is a vital measure to solving educational failure, says a major new report.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has found shocking levels of failure in the poorest areas of the country and offers a package of reforms for general election manifestos – including a new scheme that will get some of the best teachers and academy chains to the worst schools.

In some of the poorest areas of the country, only one in four children on free school meals get five good GCSEs with Maths and English.

But those attending state boarding schools from similar backgrounds are more likely to achieve better standards, the CSJ has found.

The report says ideological resistance from some social workers is holding back the use of these schools for children who could benefit. The think-tank calls for expansions in state boarding school provision, which it says could benefit many of England’s most vulnerable children.“Educational failure can have a crushing impact on life chances and prevent children reaching their potential,” said Christian Guy, CSJ Director.

“This is an enormous social injustice and an economic threat which deprives our country of its considerable and diverse talent.

“Every school in this country can be excellent – inspirational and transformative teaching should be a norm not a privilege.”

The report – part of the CSJ’s Breakthrough Britain 2015 series presenting policy ideas to tackle poverty in the next parliament – welcomes many of the Government’s reforms, but says their results will not be fully felt for a long time. It says that much more needs to be done to close the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children.

It points out that less than four in 10 children on free school meals get five good GCSEs including English and Maths, but this figure falls to less than one in three (28 per cent) poor British white boys and just 15 per cent of children in care.

Michael Gove, until recently Education Secretary, said the Conservatives should pledge to end illiteracy within a generation. The measure for this was expected to have meant primary schools would need to get 95 per cent of their pupils to required standards.

The CSJ report reveals that currently only seven per cent of schools reach this standard*.

To tackle this kind of failure, researchers put forward a suite of ideas for getting the best providers and teachers to the schools that need them most. The CSJ says the best academy chains have radically improved outcomes in disadvantaged schools – one study said the best chains were achieving at least 15 percentage points higher for good GCSEs.

It wants the Government to offer the most effective academy chains groups of schools in areas that have fallen behind.

As well as helping chains cover some of the costs of moving into new locations, the CSJ says a payment-by-results scheme should be introduced. This would reward providers who make improvements for disadvantaged children in core subjects in their first few years in new areas.

The CSJ adds it is also crucial to get talented head teachers and teachers to move to struggling schools. It says effective head teachers should be encouraged to take up posts in challenging schools, especially in areas where applications are low, by offering them a two-year grace period from a formal inspection.

The CSJ also wants the Government to start a prestigious National Teacher Service scheme to recruit the best teachers to poorly performing schools. Teachers would be offered two-year contracts which would help them strengthen their CVs and act as a stepping stone for leadership.

A survey of 2,000 teachers for the CSJ by TES Global found that almost 80 per cent of teachers would consider relocating.

The report also goes on to say that not enough is being done to close the early years knowledge gap between the most disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers.

“A staggering 50 per cent of children in some areas of social disadvantage start school with poor language and there is a 19-month gap at the start of school between the most and least advantaged children,” the report adds.

It calls for a greater focus on quality teaching at every level at early years. It says that one in 12 early years staff (eight per cent) hold only a Level 2 qualification, equivalent to a GCSE.

The report says all early years staff should have at least a Level 3 qualification.

To help with early years the CSJ also recommends that excellent primary schools should be allowed to set up their own nurseries and take over failing Sure Start Children’s Centres, allowing schools to work more closely with parents and act as community hubs.

For media inquiries, please contact:

- Ross Reid, Centre for Social Justice – Mob: 07780 707322

- Alistair Thompson, Media Intelligence Partners Ltd – Mob: 07970 162 225

Notes to the Editor

* The ‘required standard’ relates to Level 4 on the combined reading, writing and mathematics KS2 test.

This is the fifth of the CSJ’s Breakthrough Britain 2015 series of reports – which are outlining a host of policy solutions to tackle the root causes of poverty and deprivation.

This series of research publications follows the original Breakthrough Britain project in 2007, which set out 190 policy recommendations, singled out by Prime Minister David Cameron as “a major influence on his Government”

About the CSJ

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is an independent think tank established in 2004 to put social justice at the heart of British politics. In June last year, the CSJ was awarded UK Social Policy Think Tank of the Year 2013 at Prospect magazine’s Think Tank Awards.

The recommendations transformed the social policy and political landscape and resulted in the CSJ being was awarded Publication of the Year by Prospect Magazine in 2008.Further to this, the CSJ manages an Alliance of over 300 of the most effective grass roots, poverty-fighting organisations. The CSJ is able to draw upon the expertise and experience of Alliance charities for research work and media inquiries. Journalists wishing to conduct grass-roots research into social problems can be put in touch with front-line charity directors and staff.

Closing the Divide:  Tackling educational inequality in England