The attainment gap between both pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their peers has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, analysis of GCSE results shows. As teacher-assessments led to a record number of top 7 and 8 grades being handed out, the gap between pupils eligible for FSM and their non-eligible peers has increased by 0.12 of a grade since 2019, Ofqual analysis shows. This means the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers has widened by 2.27 percentage points when looking at the grade 7 and above and 1.33 percentage points at grade 4 and above. For pupils with SEND, the gap between them and peers without SEND has increased by two percentage points. Read more.
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