Northern Ireland

Poorer college students 'three A-level grades behind' affluent peers

The gap is largely explained by poorer young people already having lower grades at the end of their GCSEs
The gap is largely explained by poorer young people already having lower grades at the end of their GCSEs The gap is largely explained by poorer young people already having lower grades at the end of their GCSEs

DISADVANTAGED sixth form students are three A-level grades behind their more affluent peers, a report has found.

The gap is largely explained by poorer young people already having lower grades in their GCSEs.

An analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found these pupils fell even further behind through sixth form or college.

The EPI research looked at students' free school meal (FSM) status during their last six years of school and assessed their attainment based on the qualifications and grades achieved by the age of 19.

It found there was a gap equivalent to almost three A-level grades between the best three qualifications of disadvantaged students and their peers.

For young people identified as being "persistently disadvantaged", who were on FSM for more than 80 per cent of their time at school, this gap was the equivalent to four grades.

The research suggested additional funding should be targeted at disadvantaged 16 to 19-year-olds.

The most recent exam statistics for Northern Ireland show that in 2018/19, 90.7 per cent of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C. For FSM pupils alone the pass rate dropped to 78.3 per cent.

At A-level, 61.1 per cent of FSM pupils achieved three or more grades A*-C compared with 74.1 per cent overall. In addition, the performance gap between grammar and non-grammar FSM pupils achieving three of more A-levels at grades A*-C was 18.8 percentage points.

"The fact that poorer students are around three A-level grades behind their peers..is a very stark reminder of the high levels of educational inequality in this country," EPI Chief Executive Natalie Perera said.