Only by driving down rates of child poverty will we close the attainment gap
This year's Scottish high school exam results show many things, and depending on who is doing the looking there is both good and bad news to be seen. The Scottish education system is starting to show recovery from the changes and adaptations it was forced to make during the covid pandemic and there is evidence of the resilience of Scotland’s young people – many of whom have achieved in the face of adversity and significant disruption.
However, it also remains stubbornly true that if you grow up in a poor household – (statistically) you will do less well at school than your better off friends. This the reality of the ‘poverty-related attainment gap’ – that across National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher there is 17 percentage points between the ‘most’ and ‘least’ deprived children receiving a grade A-C.
This is just one of the symptoms of 1 in 4 children having grown up in poverty for the past 15 years. We see this ‘gap’ established in the earliest childhood assessments measuring early language acquisition and gross and fine motor skills. And you can follow its path through primary school and secondary school and then into school leaver destinations and adult earnings.
If this sounds depressing, that’s because it is.
Despite tackling child poverty being a cross-party Scottish parliament commitment and the First Minister’s “top priority” the reality is we have made no inroads to closing the attainment gap. And this months’ data shows that gap may even be widening.
And behind the figures are children who are being denied opportunity and having their future stolen by poverty. There is consensus that poverty is a blight on our society, but warm words do not change the lives of the children we’re failing. As a society we are denying children their legal right for an education to help them reach “their fullest potential”. And having a quarter of children living in poverty harms us all, our society and our economy. Research shows that it costs more to respond to the impacts of poverty than to prevent it and at a conservative estimate, lost income due to historic rates of child poverty is between £1.6m - £2.4m a year in Scotland – 1.5% of GDP.
But this isn’t about schools not doing enough. Schools and the education system have a role to play but the roots of this issue go far beyond the school gates. This is about poverty – about how poverty oppresses the space for children to grow and learn and thrive from the moment they are conceived. If we truly want to close the attainment gap – we need to act earlier.
That is why Save the Children is urging the Scottish Government to link more closely the early years agenda with child poverty and ultimately the attainment gap. If we can prevent child poverty for the youngest children and reduce the impacts of poverty through financial and other means of holistic family support, we can start to sustainably drive down child poverty rates for good and meet the legally binding ambition we have made.
