Commenting on newly published Department for Education data on GCSE attainment at the end of Key Stage 4 in the 2025/26 academic year, Jenna Julius, Research Director at NFER, said:
“New KS4 performance data published today suggests that the disadvantaged gap narrowed slightly between 2025 and 2026.
“However, due to transitional arrangements introduced in 2018 to smooth out the introduction of Universal Credit, it is not possible to establish whether this is due to a genuine improvement or simply due to a change in the composition of the group considered to be disadvantaged.
“While the transitional arrangements have now been removed, their impact will continue to make it challenging to track the disadvantaged attainment gap over the coming years. Adapting the way the gap is measured is critical to ensuring that progress against the Government’s ambitions to close the gap can be adequately and robustly assessed.
“NFER has been calling for change since our 2023 report, which recommended the government explore the feasibility of introducing a ‘continuity measure’ of disadvantage based on the underlying criteria for free school meal eligibility, which would remove the effect of the transitional arrangements.”