Summing up
The size of the Progress 8 gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers varies between regions. Over the last three years, it has been smallest in London and the West Midlands and largest in the South East, with gaps in other regions being very similar.
The proportion of the gap that can be attributed to differences between schools also varies by region, tending to be lowest in the West Midlands and highest in the South East.
The differences between regions suggest that canada rcs data efforts to change the sorting of disadvantaged pupils into schools (e.g. by favouring disadvantaged pupils in admissions criteria) would have more impact in some regions than others.
for other factors known to be associated with attainment, e.g. ethnic background. It would be worthwhile seeing whether these broad factors still hold when using contextualised Progress 8 measures.
Pupil demographics
disadvantage gapdisadvantaged pupilsKentkey stage 4Progress 8secondary schoolssouth-eastwest midlands
About the Author: Dave Thomson
Dave Thomson is chief statistician at FFT with over fifteen years’ experience working with educational attainment data to raise attainment in local government, higher education and the commercial sector. His current research interests include linking education and workplace datasets to improve estimates of adult attainment and study the impact of education on employment and benefits outcomes.