Explaining the attainment gap, and education inequality in the UK

The attainment gap: Why a child’s wealth still determines their grades

If you’ve heard terms like ‘educational inequality’ or ‘the attainment gap,’ you might wonder what they actually mean. Put simply, they refer to one of the biggest injustices in the UK education system: where you start in life still dictates how far you can go.

This piece breaks down the attainment gap – what it is, why it matters, and how we can work together to close it.

Defining the gap: The unfair race

Imagine two runners starting a marathon.

One runner has new shoes, professional coaching, and a clear path ahead. The other runner is starting a mile behind, wearing old sneakers, and has no coach to guide them.

This is the attainment gap. It’s the persistent, measurable difference between the academic results of pupils from financially disadvantaged backgrounds (often those eligible for Free School Meals) and those from wealthier backgrounds.

It is not a reflection of intelligence or ability. Children from low-income families are just as capable as their peers, but they can have less access to the tools that support progress and potential, such as:

• Quiet places to study at home.
• Reliable, modern technology and internet access.
• Crucially, additional academic support like private tutoring.

The numbers

At primary school, disadvantaged pupils are less likely to meet expected standards in reading, writing and maths: In 2024, just 47% of disadvantaged pupils met expected standards, compared to 69% of non-disadvantaged pupils.

At secondary school, disadvantaged pupils are less likely to achieve a grade 4 in English or maths GCSEs: In 2025, just 44% of disadvantaged pupils passed both English and maths GCSE, compared to 73% of non-disadvantaged pupils.

The attainment gap grows wider at each progressive stage of education. The attainment gap is a complex, generational problem rooted in societal inequalities, but recent events have made it worse:

 

Regional divide

Inequality isn’t just between families; it’s between towns. Last year, students in London achieved significantly better GCSE results than those in other regions, demonstrating a persistent postcode lottery when it comes to education quality.

Watch our video: regional gaps explained.

The pandemic effect

COVID-19 lockdowns disproportionately impacted low-income families. While all children suffered disruption, those from deprived areas were less likely to have the necessary resources—a quiet room, a dedicated computer, or online private tutoring – to learn effectively from home.

The result? A deeper crisis in learning loss.

School funding crisis

Ironically, the schools with the highest number of disadvantaged students – the very places that need the most support – have often seen the largest decrease in spending per pupil over the last decade, making it harder for them to hire staff or fund crucial extra support.

Tutoring: The proven solution

While the problem is complex, the solution that helps bridge the gap is surprisingly simple and highly effective: high-quality, targeted tuition.

Research by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) proves that small group tuition has an average impact of four months’ additional progress over the course of a year.

This is where Action Tutoring steps in.

We exist to provide this proven, high-impact support free of charge to the young people who need it most. We partner with non-selective state schools to ensure every child, regardless of their family’s income, can access the dedicated maths and English support that wealthier students take for granted.

Our mission is to ensure educational support is a fundamental right, not a privilege.

You can be part of the solution

Whether you can give one hour a week as a volunteer tutor, or support us with a donation to help cover school costs, your action directly addresses one of the most significant social injustices in the UK.

Ready to start making a direct, measurable difference in a young person’s life?

Read more:

Why fostering diversity must be at the heart of the community building and social cohesion

In 2018, Sab, an acclaimed maths teacher, left Turkey to seek refuge in the UK for fear of political persecution in his home country. On arriving in London, he felt alone and alienated – a common experience for many refugees. After a few weeks in the UK, Sab felt the need to put his passion for teaching to good use and he opted to become a volunteer tutor with Action Tutoring, an education charity focused on helping disadvantaged pupils to progress academically.

Within months of being a tutor, one pupil described his maths tutoring sessions with Sab as “one of the best I’ve ever had.” Years later, Sab would go on to become a maths teacher in a school in London, helping hundreds of primary school children to comprehend complex maths concepts, inspiring them to take up careers in STEM, and guiding their futures positively.

This is just one of many inspiring examples of how talented individuals from diverse backgrounds can create social change and break the barriers of exclusion. This instance is a win-win situation: the pupils improve their knowledge in maths, get better grades and connect with a tutor from a different background while Sab feels a sense of community, belonging, and fulfilment in teaching children facing disadvantage. There are innumerable benefits for the nation if we can collectively learn from this story and attract individuals from different backgrounds and identities to contribute their skills to community building and development.

Understanding the fractures

Our society today is divided more than it has ever been in modern history, along the lines of deeply-partisan political and cultural wars, wealth, and class, with social media further fuelling these pre-existing divisions by creating a space for people or bots to easily project uninformed assertions, half-truths, and conspiracies, without reproach. Author and changemaker, Jon Yates, in his book Fractured painted a big picture of how our society is divided today and posed central questions about our current disposition: why are we so divided? What is driving us fundamentally apart and how do we knit ourselves back together?

Jon makes a logical case that shows that we are fundamentally predisposed to mostly connect with, seek out or socialise with people like ourselves, which creates an echo chamber that hurts any chances of learning new knowledge and reaching out to talents from other backgrounds. The People Like Me (PLM) syndrome, as Jon labels it, usually is not a result of the difference of opinion, but rather the distance between people and seemingly lack of understanding or consensus. He believes this phenomenon hurts our democracy, community-building efforts, security, health systems as well as the economy.

Jon provides a holistic solution out of the mire with the potential of uniting us to pursue the common good of society, which he called the Common Life. With the pandemic creating a unique opportunity to come together, we must recalibrate the way we build our networks by connecting genuinely with diverse people unlike us and fortifying the ties that bind us as a society, rather than feed the divisions. The more we spend time with others unlike ourselves, the more understanding, friendly, tolerant, and supportive we become.

The power of diversity

I have witnessed first-hand how Action Tutoring has blossomed with the support of our highly diverse pool of volunteer tutors who drive our mission of unlocking the full potential of every disadvantaged child to give them a better shot at life and the future. Recruiting volunteers of different age groups, nationalities, professions, cities, sexual orientations, genders, and abilities, we have striven to build a positive and inclusive pool of changemakers, representative of the wider communities and people we serve.

Pupils see their tutors as positive role models and matching them with volunteers from diverse backgrounds can help the child to develop better social skills, confidence, and career aspirations. Beyond the advantage of a broader range of skills and abilities, working with people from different backgrounds generates diverse ideas and fresh approaches to solving problems. Fostering diversity and inclusion helps us to thoroughly understand and respond to the particular needs of the communities in order to create more tangible and effective policies. Recruiting diverse volunteers has also encouraged people from similar backgrounds to be inspired to volunteer.

Education is key

Levelling access to high-quality education for every child, irrespective of their background, is a major way to reduce fractures and the People Like Me syndrome. Pupils from low socio-economic backgrounds often have less access to the tools that support them to progress academically in school. This means they are unable to reach their full potential and don’t do as well in their exams as their wealthier peers – referred to as the attainment gap.

One of the tools that help narrow the attainment gap and ensure all pupils get the same support is tutoring. Action Tutoring’s solution for the last decade to level the education playing field has been to use the power of volunteer tutors to bridge the gap and ensure that tutoring support can be accessed by every pupil who needs it, not just those who can afford it. This is why the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) is an incredible opportunity to narrow the attainment gap and roll out tutoring on a significantly larger scale, so it can be embedded as a lasting feature of the education system to reduce the existing inequalities.

If more diverse pupils progress academically, they are likely to build social mobility as they grow and contribute further to society, than if they fail to reach basic standards and have little chance of escaping the traps of inequality. The time to act is now. Let’s start building diverse networks and including people from different backgrounds in community and nation-building.

The real danger of soaring energy bills and rising operational costs for schools

With schools reopening for the autumn term across the UK, many educational institutions are caught between a rock and a hard place, as they face difficult months ahead in dealing with rising energy and food prices. A breakdown by the House of Commons Library revealed that school gas and electricity prices increased by 83% in the first three months of 2022. Energy bills are forecast to triple and schools are already paying a lot more for utilities as compared to last year.

The new government, led by Prime Minister Liz Truss, recently announced a six-month support package for schools as a stop-gap intervention to the challenge but many heads worry about a long-term solution beyond that period.

In July, the government’s approval of a 5-8.5% pay increase for teachers was a big win. However, without providing additional funding to cover the pay increment coupled with the upsurge in the cost of living, school heads are being compelled to squeeze budgets significantly. 

The changes schools may be forced to make in order to balance their budgets include staff cuts (especially teaching assistants), scrapping study trips, freezing development projects, and more alarmingly, scaling back on interventions that specifically support disadvantaged pupils – many of whom are still getting back on track from the lost learning experienced during the Covid pandemic.

New data released by the DfE indicates that the attainment gap by the end of Year 6 is at its widest since 2012. Nationally, 59% of pupils attained the expected standards in SATs, down from 65% in pre-pandemic 2019. Disadvantaged pupils make up one-third of those taking SATs and only 43% of them met the attainment target as compared to 65% of non-disadvantaged pupils.

This is a deeply worrying statistic and shows why evidence-based interventions, such as quality tutoring, need to be scaled up, now more than ever. Otherwise, the affects of the pandemic on children and young people, which have only increased inequality, risk playing out in our society for many years to come. 

The NTP and specifically tutoring targeted at improving the academic progress of disadvantaged children may well suffer setbacks owing to the rising operational costs of schools. Grants from the National Tutoring Programme are likely not enough for schools to keep tutoring afloat, even more, assure its sustainability over the academic year.

The government provides 60% of the cost of tutoring while schools are required to generate the remaining 40% – another stressor on school budgets. With that subsidy set to drop to 25% in 2023-24 the future of the NTP surely hangs even more in the balance. 

Founder and CEO of Action Tutoring, Susannah Hardyman, believes there is a looming crisis in schools for pupils facing disadvantage if extra support and investment are not made available by the Government.

“There is a significant danger that funding allocation for valuable interventions for disadvantaged pupils will get removed from school budgets as essential costs continue to rise. Now is not the time for schools to have to cut staff or scale down on interventions like tutoring for disadvantaged children,” she said. “Narrowing the widening attainment gap amid Covid recovery efforts should be a key priority for the Government.”

The rocketing cost of school energy bills and operational expenses come after tough times for millions of students in recent years. The pandemic led to school closures and lost learning time, exacerbating the attainment gap and worsening the mental health of pupils. Schools were also hit with per-pupil funding reduction, with those in poorer communities suffering the most and making it one of the largest cuts to school funding in decades.

Some Heads fear hunger may be one of the biggest challenges for schools as spiralling energy costs put them in a precarious funding situation. There are widespread calls for universal free school meals across the UK to include the over 800,000 children in poverty who aren’t eligible, as more pupils turn up for classes hungry.

With winter approaching, there are growing suggestions that schools act as ‘warm havens’ for people unable to afford to heat their homes. However, that may face setbacks if energy costs continue to rise and schools are unable to cope. Action Tutoring believes that immediate intervention is essential to protect schools from the impact of rising costs. Susannah said:

“Failure to shield schools from the effect of these unfavourable moments may have far-reaching effects on young people, especially those facing disadvantage, for many years to come. Not only will this be a waste of the potential for their lives, but it will have long-term consequences for the wider society too.”

Why I volunteer with Action Tutoring

I once read a quote from Albert Einstein: “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what they learnt in school.”

That quote has stuck with me to this day and for the longest time I wasn’t sure why – until I began volunteering as a tutor for Action Tutoring.

However, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s turn back the clock and talk about why Action Tutoring exists. It may surprise you to learn that there is an educational crisis taking place in the UK.

Similarly to the pandemics, strikes, international conflicts and financial difficulties that have taken centre stage in recent years, this crisis will define our future as a nation. I am of course referring to the disparity in academic attainment that disadvantaged pupils face.

The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers

Did you know that a disadvantaged student is on average 18 months behind their counterparts whilst taking their GCSEs? How about that privately educated students (around 6% of the young population) make up 55% of the students at Russel Group Universities?

Most concerning of all is that in 2018, UNICEF ranked 41 developed countries by educational inequality – the UK came 23rd and 16th for primary and secondary schools respectively. This meant it was beaten in some categories by historically less developed countries – Chile, Bulgaria and Malta for example.

Some of these issues have only been heightened by a lack of teachers and the Covid-19 pandemic, with many disadvantaged school students unable to access their now electronic school work. As a result, thousands of pupils nationwide find themselves deprived of the equal education that they deserve.

This is where Action Tutoring comes in. Once a school is sponsored by Action Tutoring, trained volunteer tutors such as myself get the chance to help level the playing field. This is achieved through giving extra maths and English lessons to primary and secondary school pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding, who aren’t achieving their true potential.

Whilst tutoring a group of pupils every week may sound extremely daunting, in actuality it went very smoothly. The training and lesson templates were very easily comprehensible, and the staff at Action Tutoring were very professional and helpful when any issues arose. Over time, the terrifying idea of tutoring pupils every week soon gave way to an immensely rewarding experience of seeing pupils grow in confidence, ability and critical thinking skills.

Furthermore, on top of this vital societal role, the tutors themselves benefit. The experience of tutoring gives you confidence, becoming a more capable public speaker and teacher. This is of course in addition to giving volunteering and tutoring experience, which is especially useful if you’ve considered a career in teaching as I have.

So, at the end of my tutoring experience I can confidently say that both my pupils and I benefitted from it, and are better equipped to face the challenges that the world may throw at us in future. This neatly brings me back to my Albert Einstein quote; because long after the equations and language techniques fade from pupils’ minds, they will still benefit from their education.

Blog written by Henry Roberts

5th September: International Day of Charity Celebration

What is the International Day of Charity?

5th September marks the International Day of Charity celebration, as a way to raise awareness and mobilise people, NGOs, and governments all around the world to help others through volunteering and philanthropic activities.

The International Day of Charity started in Hungary as a way for the Hungarian Civil Society to enhance visibility, organise charitable events and raise public support for charity.

The date of 5th September was chosen to commemorate the passing of Mother Teresa, who was known for her dedication to charitable work and giving her life to helping others and overcoming poverty, suffering, and distress.

There are not many great things, only small things with great love.

Mother Teresa 

Why is the International Day of Charity important?

The goal today is to spark discussion about how to use our time and resources wisely so that we can be there for disadvantaged people who need our support.

By encouraging social responsibility on 5th September, we aim to raise awareness of the needs of the most vulnerable to help communities who need us the most. 

On this day we also thank our volunteers for all their support and commitment. Last academic year, over 2,000 volunteer tutors provided over 30,000 tutoring sessions in English or maths to disadvantaged children who needed some extra support. 

Volunteering can be a rewarding experience and has the potential to make a real change in the lives of the most vulnerable.

How to get involved

Take some time to reflect about the causes you care about

International Day of Charity helps bring our attention back and raise awareness for all the little ways we can help.

Why not take some time today to think about what causes you care about so you can dedicate your time and energy giving back to the community? Charity organisations rely on people who are interested and committed to helping others.

Visit a volunteer centre

Volunteer centres are in most communities and can be visited in-person, called, or contacted online. There, you can receive specialist advice about which volunteering opportunity might suit your interests and skills.

If you’re a student, your university will have a volunteering department that can provide advice. If you’re employed, there’s a chance your work might have a Corporate Social Responsibility department or policy and can point you in the right direction, too.

Find other ways to support

Found a cause you’re interested in, but don’t quite have enough time to volunteer yet? You can support your chosen charity in other ways. Donations are vital to the running of any charity, and it really is a case of every little helps. 

You can also support charities by spreading the word about their work. Share what you know about them with a friend who might be interested in volunteering, or share their posts on social media. Advocacy can be as small as one click to share, and is key in raising awareness of a charity’s mission. 

Interested in supporting Action Tutoring today?

Education in this country isn’t fair. If you are from a poorer socio-economic background, you are less likely to achieve academically than your peers. 

At Action Tutoring, we believe that all children should have access to equal education opportunities, no matter their socioeconomic status, as this leads to a brighter future. We are proud to have created a strong community of inspiring volunteers, who are crucial in our mission to reach more disadvantaged pupils and offer tailored academic support. 

If education equality is a cause you’re passionate about, apply to volunteer as a tutor with us. You only need to spare an hour each week to help disadvantaged pupils progress in English and maths.

Spread the word 

You can also help by sharing this post on social media to raise awareness and inspire others who might be interested in volunteering as a tutor with us.