CYP Now - Early years support vital to end ‘years of neglect’ for poor white children, MPs say

A “tailor-made” approach to early years services is needed to mitigate “years of neglect” of education for disadvantaged white children, MPs have said.

Government support for early years is needed to tackle disadvantage, MPs have warned. Picture: Adobe Stock

The Education Select Committee’s latest report warns that disadvantaged white children have been “badly let down by decades of neglect and muddled policy thinking”.

MPs state that “only a proper targeted approach will reverse the educational underachievement of this long forgotten disadvantaged group”.

Figures cited by the committee show that in 2018/19, just 53 per cent of free school meals (FSM) -eligible white British pupils met the expected standard of development at the end of the early years foundation stage. The report describes this figure as “one of the lowest percentages for any disadvantaged ethnic group.”

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