There is little doubt England’s school system is highly socially segregated.

Independent schools are closed to all but the wealthiest parents, while the stranglehold of the middle classes on grammar schools is well known.

However, even within the comprehensive system, there are longstanding structural inequalities. Research over decades has shown that the highest-achieving schools have the lowest levels of social disadvantage.

A persistent problem

Now, new research from the Sutton Trust and the National Foundation for Educational Research shows that this pattern persists. In 2021-22, while the average comprehensive intake included 22 per cent of free school meals (FSM) pupils, the top 500 schools by GCSE grades (Attainment 8 score) took in 13 per cent.

Somewhat surprisingly, only a third of this gap is attributable to the location of schools in affluent catchment areas, where house prices often serve as a gatekeeper to access.

However, the remainder of the gap is down to a pattern of de facto selection within the areas they draw their pupils from.

This is owing to a variety of factors, including sometimes complex admissions criteria, the use of feeder schools, differences in the ability to navigate the system by parents of different backgrounds, nuances in how catchment areas are precisely drawn, as well as barriers such as the cost of uniforms, equipment and trips at some schools.

This begets a vicious cycle. Affluent intakes tend to mean higher grades and league table rankings, higher Ofsted ratings and good “reputations”. This in turn attracts middle-class parents with the financial resources to buy a house in desirable catchment areas, or the know-how to navigate complex admissions processes and appeals.

Understandably, the best teachers are also attracted to schools that have higher achieving intakes and fewer behavioural issues. This dynamic underlies many of the inequalities in the school system.

The impact of Progress 8

The research also unearthed some interesting developments since 2016, alongside changes in the school accountability system.

In 2016, when the Progress 8 measure, which takes into account the prior attainment of intakes, was in its infancy, the top 500 schools looked similar in social make-up to the average school.

Their catchment areas actually had higher rates of FSM than average, and their intakes were just 1.6 percentage points below the average comprehensive. This contrasted with schools that had the highest grades, which were highly socially exclusive.

Six years later, with Progress 8 having bedded in as the main measure of school performance, we see a different pattern.

Top schools for progress look more like the top schools for raw exam grades, and now look very different from the average school, with FSM rates 5 percentage points below average.

Despite the advantages of Progress 8 looking at the value added by schools for their intakes, this illustrates the dynamics of the accountability system.

The money conundrum

What can we do about it? Ultimately all schools should be resourced to be successful and do the best for their pupils, regardless of their intake. The rise in child poverty in recent years has had a negative impact on the schools whose students are the most affected.

Yet the introduction of the National Funding Formula in 2017 funnelled money away from the most deprived schools, and while Pupil Premium funding has been crucial for supporting schools, it has lagged behind inflation.

However, in a nation with significant economic inequalities outside the school gates, and with schools facing dramatically different challenges depending on their location and intake, money is unlikely to cure all, and we also need to tackle the underlying segregation across schools.

A more even spread of pupils from all backgrounds across schools is likely to be beneficial to the system overall.

Housing segregation is not something that can be solved by schools, but this research shows that many of the gaps we see are occurring within schools’ locality.

Time to take action

On a national level, the government should require schools to use FSM eligibility as an oversubscription criterion, in the way that looked after children are currently prioritised.

But schools themselves can make changes - 90 per cent of secondaries are now their own admissions authorities. Headteachers are facing huge challenges, though, so understandably admissions may not be a priority.

But a simple first step, for schools as well as multi-academy trusts, particularly those that are oversubscribed, would be to conduct a review of admissions policies.

This would help to establish whether the school is reflecting the range of backgrounds in its local community, whether any aspects of its policies are posing barriers to some parents and what they could do to make the school more inclusive of pupils from all backgrounds.

The Sutton Trust will be working on this issue throughout 2024 to support schools wishing to review their admissions policies and expand their intakes.

As we reckon with a disadvantage attainment gap that is wider than it has been since 2011, addressing social segregation in schools is only the beginning of tackling this generation-defining problem.

Carl Cullinane is director of research and policy at the Sutton Trust

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