Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 6
First Report - The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it
Published 22 Jun 2021
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Left behind white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Disadvantaged White pupils fall behind their peers at every stage of education. Every year, thousands of disadvantaged White pupils leave school without strong passes in English and Maths GCSE. We recognise the efforts that the Government has made to close this gap, but the Department has fallen victim to muddled thinking, and has shown little interest in exploring why disadvantaged White pupils underachieve relative to similarly deprived peers. As a result, the Department has not been able to target support and tackle specific barriers facing these groups. The Department must acknowledge that its reforms are not producing results, particularly for disadvantaged White pupils. A knowledge-rich curriculum is essential, but with progress on closing the disadvantage gap stalling, it is time to invest in a more targeted approach. (Paragaph 40)
From: Education Committee, First Report - The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it (HC 85), 22 June 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 4 November 2021 (deadline 22 August 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the report's overriding ambition and "largely accept[s] the majority of the recommendations", while not fully accepting some because it considers its existing or planned policies "better formulated".
- On statistics, it recognises that Free School Meals eligibility is "an imperfect measure of disadvantage" and says it will "commit to investigating where further regional breakdowns can feasibly be added", noting disclosure risks and user needs.
- On teaching about "white privilege", it says schools "should not teach contested theories and opinions as fact" and that it has "already begun working with the sector to develop guidance".
- On skills tax credits and changes to the apprenticeship levy, it says it does not believe credits are "necessary" and does "not agree with the Committee that changes are needed to the apprenticeship levy".
- On free schools and early years funding, it says future free school approvals "will be considered as part of the Spending Review" and that early years funding "will be considered at the forthcoming Spending Review".