Local authority gaps

When considering local authority gaps, we compare the attainment of disadvantaged pupils locally to the attainment of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Using this methodology, gaps in the attainment of disadvantaged students across different local authorities are substantial. The difference between the local authorities with smallest and largest gap is 11.5 months at age 5, 14.5 months at age 11, and 24.5 months at age 16. The interactive maps below display 2024 disadvantage gaps at the local authority level, together with changes in the gap since 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. 

Early years foundation stage 

Nationally, the disadvantage gap at the end of reception was 4.7 months in 2024, an increase of 0.5 months since 2019, the most recent pre-pandemic year. 

The smallest gaps were in Newham and Slough, where disadvantaged pupils were just 1.9 months behind their peers, followed by Kensington and Chelsea (with a gap of 2.1 months) and Hackney (2.2 months). Of the twenty local authorities with the smallest gaps, fifteen were London boroughs – the exceptions being Slough, Isle of Wight, Birmingham, Barnsley and Stoke-on-Trent. Conversely, Rutland stood out for having the largest disadvantage gap, at 8.6 months, followed by West Berkshire (7.2 months), Bracknell Forest and Cambridgeshire (both 7.0 months).  

Looking at changes since 2019, three-quarters of local authorities nationally saw their gaps increase by 2024, with Rutland seeing the biggest increase (+3.9 months). Among the one-quarter of local authorities that saw their gaps decline, Halton and the Isle of Wight saw the biggest falls (-1.9 months each), followed by Kensington and Chelsea and Stoke-on-Trent (-1.5 months each), and then Redcar and Cleveland and Cornwall (-1.3 months).  

Primary school 

Nationally, disadvantaged students at the end of primary school were 10 months behind their peers in 2024. This is a 0.8-month increase since 2019.  

Of the 20 local authorities will the smallest disadvantage gaps in 2024, the top 19 were in London, and the twentieth was Slough, just outside London. Newham had a negative gap (of -0.2 months), meaning that disadvantaged pupils in this local authority have higher attainment than the average non-disadvantaged pupil nationally. After Newham, Hammersmith and Fulham had the smallest gap (1.8 months), followed by Tower Hamlets (2.1 months).  

The three local authorities with the largest gaps in 2024 were Bath and North East Somerset (15.7 months), Central Bedfordshire (15.7 months), and West Berkshire (16.4 months).  

Looking at changes over the period from 2019 to 2024, two thirds of local authorities saw their disadvantage gap increase compared to the pre-pandemic level. Kensington and Chelsea and Bath and North East Somerset saw the largest increases in the gap compared with 2019 (+5 months and +4.3 months respectively). The areas with the largest decreases in their gaps were Hackney, Bedford, and Rutland, which saw their gaps reduce by 4.7, 2.3, and 2.2 months, respectively.  

Secondary school 

Nationally, the disadvantage gap reached 19.1 months by the end of secondary school in 2024—an increase of a month since 2019. 

In key stage 4 local authorities in London continue to have the smallest gaps. In 2024, the 23 local authorities with the narrowest GCSE disadvantage gaps were London boroughs. Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham had the smallest gap, with 2.8 and 4.3 months respectively. The two local authorities with the largest gaps were in the North West: Blackpool, at 26.7 months, and Knowsley at 26.4 months.  

The three local authorities with the greatest improvement since 2019 were in London. These are Merton (-5.5 months), Lewisham (-4.6 months), and Hammersmith and Fulham (-4.4 months). At the other extreme, Windsor and Maidenhead and York saw a significant increase in their disadvantage gaps (both +6.5 months). 

16-19 education 

Nationally the disadvantage gap at the end of 16-19 education in 2023 was 3.3 grades— 0.1 grades wider than in 2019. 

As in earlier phases, London boroughs tend to have amongst the smallest 16-19 disadvantage gaps in the country. Many, such as Sutton (-2.1 grades), Islington (-2.0 grades), Southwark (-1.9 grades) and Ealing (-1.4 grades) have negative gaps meaning that disadvantage students in these local authorities have higher attainment than the average non-disadvantaged student nationally. Of the 20 local authorities with the narrowest (or negative) 16-19 disadvantage gaps around the country, 15 were London boroughs. There is a less clear pattern to the areas with the widest 16-19 disadvantage gaps. The five local authorities with the widest gaps were Portsmouth (6.2 grades), Knowsley (6.0 grades), Torbay (5.6 grades), Central Bedfordshire (5.5 grades) and Southampton (5.5 grades). 

Compared to 2019, the local authorities that saw their 16-19 disadvantage gaps widen the most were Portsmouth (+2.1 grades), Sunderland (+1.9) and Blackpool (+1.9 grades). The local authorities that saw their 16-19 disadvantage gaps improve the most were Thurrock (4.5 grade improvement), Havering (4.3 grade improvement) and Stockport (3.6 grade improvement). 

Performance of local authorities across phases in 2024 

We considered the overall performance of each LA across all phases, in particular how consistent LA performance is across phases. To do this, we ranked LAs by the size of their disadvantage gaps in each phase and then counted in how many of the phases they were in the top and bottom 25 LAs. Seven local authorities, all London boroughs, were in the top 25 LAs across all four phases of education: Kensington and Chelsea, Redbridge, Newham, Hackney, Barnet, Southwark and Wandsworth. Another fourteen LAs had amongst the lowest gaps across three phases. Again, these were all London boroughs, apart from Slough, which is just outside London. 

Only Central Bedfordshire was in the bottom the 25 LAs across all four phases. There are seven LAs that had among the biggest gaps in three of the four phases: Bath and North East Somerset, West Sussex, Oxfordshire, West Berkshire, Westmoreland and Furness, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset. Eighty-six LAs were not in the bottom 25 LAs for any phase, including all London LAs. 

• Foreword & executive summary
• Disadvantage
• EAL
• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Geographic disadvantage gaps
• SEND
• Methodology