Attainment in Schools

The Government’s mission is to open up opportunity for every child and we are working with schools across the country to strengthen attainment. That includes regional improvement for excellence and standards teams, recruiting 6,500 teachers, a refreshed high-quality curriculum and tackling barriers to attainment, including child poverty.

I am concerned about attainment levels across secondary schools in Crewe, where, on average, only about 46% of pupils achieve a grade 4 in English and maths. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what further support we can provide to our hard-working school leaders and teaching staff to help raise outcomes and ensure that every child in Crewe gets the opportunities that they deserve?

I know how hard the leaders, teachers and support staff in Crewe will be working, and we want to get behind them to deliver outcomes for students. We will support schools to use formative assessments in writing and maths, and introduce a new statutory reading test for all year 8 pupils, to prevent children slipping through the net. Of course, I will be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further.

I welcome the ambition for greater attainment, but does the Minister agree that cancelling the large programme uplift funding for schools offering the international baccalaureate, as the Government have recently done, has left year 11 students, particularly at schools like Tonbridge grammar school, which I have the privilege to represent, somewhat lost and therefore struggling to achieve the attainment of which she speaks?