Inner-London pupils are falling behind their peers outside the capital in their A-level results, despite outperforming them at earlier stages of education, analysis has found.
Research by the New Schools Network and school data website School Dash finds that 12.8 per cent of inner-London pupils achieved AAB at A level last summer, a figure more than three percentage points below the national average of 15.9 per cent.
The proportion of pupils achieving AAB or higher at A level was highest in the East of England, at 17.6 per cent, followed by the South East and outer London, at 17.4 per cent and 17.3 per cent respectively. But the figure for inner-London pupils was just 12.8 per cent.
This is despite the overall performance of London pupils outstripping those outside the capital at key stages 2 and 3.
Contrary to typical trends
Almost 60 per cent of the capital’s 16-year-olds received five GCSEs at grades A*-C last summer, a figure 2.4 points ahead of the national average, and 84 per cent achieved a level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths at the end of primary school, 4 points ahead of the national average.
In a statement, the New Schools Network warns: “By this measure, inner London is falling behind all other regions in the country, including those in the North, contrary to typical trends in educational achievement.”
The group’s director Nick Timothy said:“This analysis shows that despite improvements at key stage 2 and GCSE, we cannot afford to take our foot off the pedal if London is to continue being an educational success story. Sixteen-to-19 free schools are outperforming all other types of state school at A level, and are getting children from the most deprived backgrounds into the very best universities.”
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