CYP Now - Off-rolling 'hides true extent of pupil attainment gap' in schools

The gap between disadvantaged pupils and their more affluent peers is wider than first thought, when thousands of children who have been removed from the school registers are taken into account, say education researchers.

As many as 9,200 pupils were off-rolled before sitting their GCSEs, researchers said. Picture: Adobe Stock

Official figures show that 47 per cent of disadvantaged pupils in mainstream schools achieved a grade 4 (equivalent to a grade C) or above in English and maths compared with 72.6 per cent of non-disadvantaged students.

But research group FFT Education Datalab says the gap is far higher as official figures are not including pupils who are removed from school rolls before the end of year 11.

This includes students who are off-rolled - a practice in which schools skew their attainment figures by removing challenging pupils from the school roll without permanently excluding them. Those who are legitimately moved into alternative provision, university technical colleges or leave state education entirely are also not included in the figures.

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