Educational outcomes across England: Performance Tracker Local
Think tank: Institute for Government
Author(s): Amber Dellar
August 20, 2025
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government examines the performance gaps in schools.
The 2010s saw educational attainment increase, and disparities narrow, across England’s schools – but this progress was brought to a shuddering halt when Covid hit.
Since 2019, educational inequalities have again grown wider and more pronounced, both across the country and among various demographic groups, with some areas and groups now lagging far behind others.
With the new government aiming to break the link between a child’s background and their future success as part of its opportunity mission, it needs to understand where and to what extent educational outcomes have changed and who is at risk of being ‘left behind’. That is what this report, the latest in our Performance Tracker Local series supported by the Nuffield Foundation, seeks to help it do.
