England behind other countries in maths performance of disadvantaged pupils

Maths performance of disadvantaged pupils in England ranks in the lower half of developed countries, new analysis by UCL Institute of Education and the Education Policy Institute (EPI) reveals. The report shows that England's disadvantaged pupils lag behind several other Western nations including Estonia, Canada, the Netherlands and Ireland, achieving around a third of a grade lower (on average). Disadvantaged pupils in Asian nations of Macao, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan are even further ahead - with England performing around half a grade lower in maths. Toby Greany, co-author of the report and Professor of Leadership and Innovation at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) said: "It is clear that the ways in which education systems are designed and operate can make a real difference to equity as well as outcomes. Interestingly, only a subset of the higher performing countries around the world are strong in both respects.  "The English system does have several strengths, but the report also highlights areas that arguably require more focus, including how to minimise the impact of selection and ability grouping and how to enhance school engagement with families and wider services for the most vulnerable children." England is marked by a long tail of underperformance amongst its disadvantaged pupils. Just 1 in 10 disadvantaged pupils in England achieve a high score in GCSE maths of grade 7 to 9 (A-A* under the old grading system). The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers in England is equivalent to one whole GCSE grade.