News
Disadvantaged pupils twice as likely to be poor readers
12 Feb 2013
A strong link between social disadvantage and low achievement in UK schools has been found by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The analysis of tests undertaken in 2009 has found that in the UK and on average across OECD countries, disadvantaged students are twice as likely to be among the poorest performers in reading compared to better-off pupils.
However, the study shows there is nothing inevitable about this connection between social background and achievement. In Shanghai in China, South Korea, Canada, Japan, Finland and the Netherlands pupils can succeed regardless of their socio-economic background.
Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's special adviser on education, says a long-term characteristic of the UK's education system has been social division, with a polarisation between the results of rich and poor pupils.
Read more at BBC Education.
Find out about Mia's Campaign to help disadvantaged children gain the literacy skills they need.
