Children referred to social care more likely to fail core GCSEs, charity warns
Emily Harle
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Children who have been referred to social care are twice as likely to fail an English or maths GCSE than their peers, research warns.
Some 53 per cent of young people, who sat their exams between 2019 and 2021 and who had been referred to social care did not achieve at least grade 4 in their English and maths GCSEs compared with 24 per cent of those who had not been subject to a referral, charity Action for Children has found.
The charity has warned that this shows a “worrying” attainment gap, noting that not having a grade 4 - which is classes as a pass - can prevent students from sitting A Levels, continuing to higher education or accessing vocational training courses and jobs.
This is the first time that GCSE results have been analysed for children with a referral to social care, rather than just those who have been supported through the social care system.
The research also includes children who were subject to referrals but did not receive support, and those who are supported by social workers, are on child protection plans, or are in care.
Holly, aged 22, was involved with social services from the age of six and was fostered at age 14.
She said: “It was really difficult to concentrate in lessons.
“I’d had so many social workers, and very little stability in my life. It was hard to focus and I had a lot of insecurities.”
The charity is calling on the government to invest in rolling out family help services across every local authority in England, and to pilot a rollout of family support workers based in schools to identify children who are likely to benefit from services, but are below the statutory threshold for intervention.
It is also urging the government to abolish the benefit cap and increase the child element of universal credit by £15 per week, to address the root causes of family stress and educational disadvantage.
Joe Lane, head of policy and research at Action for Children, said: “Our analysis shows that poor English and maths GCSE results fall hugely unequally on those who experience challenges outside the school gates.
“We fear these young people’s life options are more likely to be limited by their poor academic results, as these grades are crucially required by further education and often by employers.”
He warns that children referred to social care are “shockingly overlooked” in efforts to improve academic results, adding that parties “need policies that tackle the root causes of challenges young people face outside school” in order to address poor attainment effectively.
The research comes ahead of GCSE results day later this week (Thursday 24 August), and follows A Level results day last week (Thursday 17 August) which saw the proportion of top A* and A grades reduce to 26.5 per cent - down from 35.9 per cent the previous year.
This year's results are the first not based on teacher assessments since 2019, after the government altered its grading system during the Covid pandemic. The decision to return to standard grading sparked concern among education unions with Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders saying that the sharp fall in grades was due to the adjustment to the grading system.
"It is important to remember that these students also suffered the disruption of the pandemic, and this will have impacted particularly on those from disadvantaged backgrounds,” he said.
