The UK allows a “huge waste” of young talent because poor, bright pupils lag years behind better-off classmates in maths, science and reading, according to a Sutton Trust analysis published today.

The gap between rich and poor is even more stark for girls, according to Global Gaps, published by the Sutton Trust think tank.

The research, carried out by John Jerrim at UCL’s Institute of Education, focused on attainment gaps among the 10 per cent most able pupils, using 2015 test scores from the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) run by the Organisation for International Cooperation and Development (OECD).

This showed that socioeconomic gaps between high-achieving pupils aged 15 are “significant” throughout much of the developed world.

The performance of the highest achievers in the UK has been “stagnant at best” since 2006, reflecting trends for all 15-year-olds.

Bright but poor pupils in the UK are around two years and eight months behind similarly able but better-off classmates in maths, science and reading. The gaps are bigger for girls than boys, at about three years in science and reading.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: “It is staggering that, at age 16, bright but poor pupils lag behind their rich classmates by almost three years.” This resulted in “a huge waste of talent”, he said. He described Wales’ overall performance and Scotland’s decline in maths since 2009 as “particularly concerning”.

While England’s highest achievers score above the median score for OECD countries in maths, science and reading, those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland perform worse on average.

England has “some of the best and brightest 15-year-olds in the world” when it comes to science, although able pupils could be stretched more in maths, according to the research.

Wales does particularly poorly, with only the highest achievers in Chile, Turkey and Mexico getting lower scores in reading and maths. One of “the few bright spots in Wales” is cited as the “reasonable” science performance of able pupils from poor backgrounds.

In Scotland, “there is no specific area where able children…really excel”, and there has been a “pronounced and sustained decline” in science in the past decade, equivalent to around a year of schooling.

The divide between rich and poor In Northern Ireland is “amongst the smallest gap anywhere in the industrialised world”, although it still stands at about two years of schooling in each of the three Pisa subjects.

To address the gaps identified by today’s report, the Sutton Trust is calling on the government to establish a “highly able fund” to support the prospects of high attainers in comprehensive schools.

It also demands better access to grammar schools for disadvantaged students and entry systems to independent schools that are based on educational ability, rather than ability to pay.

The trust believes that ring-fenced funding, whereby “high-potential pupils” are tracked and monitored, would help to improve social mobility by widening access to top jobs and universities. To support this, the trust wants to see schools made accountable for the performance of their most able pupils.

Dr Jerrim said: “While England’s brightest pupils score around average in international tests - and better in science - this analysis shows that there are some very big socio-economic gaps in attainment between the brightest pupils from poor and better-off homes. There are also some very big challenges in Scotland and Wales, highlighted by the research.”

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