Calls for more support for North schools

CAMPAIGNERS have demanded more support for North East schools, as a bleak picture emerges of the region’s exam performance.

Early figures suggest the region saw the biggest fall in GCSE pass rate in the country on Thursday, leaving it with the second-lowest outcomes overall, at 63.4%, down 1.7% on last year.

Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery slammed the recent changes, which saw ‘tougher’ curricula and a 1-9 grading system introduced in English and maths, as a “vanity project”.

He said: “The new system implemented by the Government has created a great deal of confusion and caused education practitioners and students alike to shoulder additional burdens during what is already a very challenging time.

“The Government’s obsession with their own educational vanity projects whilst slashing school funding in real terms is causing major problems for schools in the North East.”

Of course, these changes affected exam entrants across the country.

But according to Mike Parker, director of Schools North East, which represents all the region’s state schools, there are a few reasons why the North East may have suffered disproportionately.

He said the figures available are early indications, and cannot yet be fully analysed.

“Schools in the North East are grievously under-funded in comparison to elsewhere in the country,” he said. “If you look at the areas that performed well this year and they are almost universally areas that are better funded than the North East. There is a direct correlation between underfunding and outcomes.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are determined to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, get the excellent education they deserve.

“Our data, which looks at the number of children who have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, shows the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has narrowed since 2011.

“But there is more to do. That is why, through the Pupil Premium, we are investing almost £2.5bn of additional funding this year to support schools in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.”