London MUST have its own education strategy before it fails even more students

A new major report has identified persistent inequalities in London’s education system and calls for a strategic reset to address the unique challenges facing young people in the capital.

London needs its own education strategy

The Education, Skills, and Inequalities in London report brings together data from early years to adult skills, showing that while many Londoners out-perform those from other regions, tens of thousands from low-income backgrounds are still being left behind.

By 2035, nearly 70% of London jobs will require an undergraduate degree or higher. This underscores the urgent need to remove educational barriers for young people in the capital.

The report, authored by Professor Graeme Atherton, Vice-Principal at Ruskin College, Oxford, and Head of the Ruskin Institute for Social Equity and supported by the Portal Trust, highlights the need for London to again take the national lead in linking together primary, secondary and post-compulsory learning as it has done before to enable the capital to meet the future economic challenges it faces.

There are over 2 million young people and adults learning in London at over 3000 schools, colleges, universities and training providers. However, the inequalities across the capital are stark

Educational inequalities laid bare

Since 2015-16, the number of students receiving Free School Meals has increased by 9%, totalling 332,474 young people and in 2023-24, more than 200,000 students in London (17.6%) had special educational needs support or an education, health, and care plan.

Nearly 20,000 children left primary school in 2022 not achieving the expected level in English or Maths and in 2023 almost half of all children eligible for Free School Meals left school not at the expected level in reading, writing and Maths.

Performance at end of secondary school is strong with all but six local authorities performing above the national average but there is also a near 30% difference between the highest performing area and lowest performing area in London in GCSE English and Maths at Level 4 and above.

Only five out of the 32 London boroughs have A-level results above the national average (Camden, Newham, Sutton, Croydon, and Waltham Forest).

Apprenticeship participation and achievement are declining nationwide, with London seeing a nearly 50% drop from 2018 to 2024, resulting in just 147,480 apprenticeship completions.

In 2022-23, 17,204 Black pupils were suspended from school which is 27% of all pupils suspended in London that year. Travellers of Irish Heritage young people are three times more likely to be suspended than other pupils.

London education must change

Key recommendations:

• Produce a new State of the City annual report, with up-to-date information showing emerging inequalities and performance against long term targets.
• Build a collaborative infrastructure to link up all levels of London’s education sector, promoting knowledge exchange and mutual support across the capital and from primary schools to universities.
• Produce an educational guarantee for London learners with additional support for target learners.
• Identification of where and how regional education policy and devolution could support London.

Professor Graeme Atherton, Head of the Ruskin Institute for Social Equity, said:

The data shows that some learners in London do exceptionally well. It is our responsibility now to prioritise work that helps all our learners do exceptionally well from early years to adulthood. It also shows that there are some significant differences across areas of the capital, and we now need more work to understand why these differences occur and what we can do to address this.

Richard Foley, chief executive officer of the Portal Trust, said:

The insights from this report serve as a call to action, identifying strategic areas for improvement and providing a framework for meaningful progress. We believe it is of critical importance that a State of the City annual report is produced, with up-to-date educational data showing emerging inequalities and performance data against long term targets.

Featured image via the Canary