Poor pupils in London risk being overlooked by ‘levelling up’ plans to improve underperforming schools

School improvement in capital could be set back by plans to target schools elsewhere
Levelling Up plans do not include London
PA Archive
Anna Davis @_annadavis1 February 2022

London children risk being overlooked in government plans to “level up” education which will see money targeted at areas outside the capital, experts have warned.

The government announced 55 “cold spots” where investment and support will be targeted at schools, but none of them are in London.

Experts urged the government to reveal how it chose the 55 “education investment areas”, amid fears that the dramatic improvements in London schools over the past twenty years could be put at risk.

Natalie Perera, chief executive of the Education Policy Institute said: “London has seen great success in improving the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils over the last two decades. While it is important that funding is targeted to the areas most in need, it is also crucial that poverty in the capital is not overlooked.

“The relative affluence of London can mask pockets of deprivation and high levels of pupil need. It’s important that the government publishes its criteria used to select the areas which are to benefit from this scheme." 

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We await the details of exactly how the 55 ‘education investment areas’ will work, but the government will need to be careful of the law of unintended consequences.

“Obviously, if you improve pay in some geographical areas but not in others there is a danger of drawing teachers away from areas that do not qualify for extra support. This is especially a danger in London where the very high cost of living can easily outstrip the London weighting element of their pay.”

London schools have improved dramatically since the early 2000s, partly due to the London Challenge – a school improvement programme that focussed on schools sharing good practice

Under new government plans, 95 per cent of the areas earmarked for extra support are outside of London and the South East. The department for education said: “It is the struggling schools of the North, Midlands, East of England and South West that will be receiving much more support over the next decade.”

Underperforming schools in these areas could be moved into multi-academy trusts and payments offered to teachers in areas where attainment is low.

These areas could also be prioritised as the location for new specialist sixth form free schools for talented children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

New national targets are also proposed to ensure 90 per cent of children leaving primary school in England are reaching the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths by 2030. In 2019, the figure was 65 per cent.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said that many of the areas now targeted for support have been among the hardest hit by education cuts over the last decade, “on the government’s own watch.”

He added: “The Government must reverse the cuts made to all schools so that the gains made in London are not put at risk."

A department for education document states the 55 areas were chosen based on pupils’ attainment at the ages of 11 and 16 between 2017 and 2019.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: “We are committed to levelling up opportunity for children and young people in all parts of the country, and Education Investment Areas mainly cover the third of local authorities in England where educational outcomes have been weakest.

“Funding per pupil in London is already above the national average, while indicative funding figures announced in December show overall funding in London is forecast to see an extra £322.3 million in 2022-23, an increase of 5.4% per pupil.

“This takes total funding for 2022–23 in the region to over £7.0 billion.”

The 55 areas selected as Education Investment Areas to raise school standards are:

Bedford

Blackpool

Bolton

Bradford

Bury

Cambridgeshire

Central Bedfordshire

Cornwall

County Durham

Coventry

Darlington

Derby

Derbyshire

Doncaster

Dorset

Dudley

East Sussex

Halton

Hartlepool

Isle of Wight

Kirklees

Knowsley

Leeds

Lincolnshire

Liverpool

Luton

Manchester

Middlesbrough

Norfolk

North Northamptonshire

North Somerset

North Yorkshire

Nottingham

Nottinghamshire

Oldham

Peterborough

Plymouth

Portsmouth

Rochdale

Rotherham

Salford

Sandwell

Sefton

Somerset

South Gloucestershire

South Tyneside

St. Helens

Stoke-on-Trent

Suffolk

Sunderland

Swindon

Tameside

Wakefield

Walsall

Wirral

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