Richmond upon Thames pupils continue to achieve strong overall results, exceeding national averages across all key stages. However, a persistent attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils remains a significant concern for the Education and Children's Services Committee.
During the 2024-25 academic year, Richmond schools ranked first nationwide for the phonics screening test and for Key Stage 2 expected standards in reading, writing, and mathematics. Overall, 78% of pupils achieved the expected standard or above in these core subjects at Key Stage 2, a two-percentage point increase from the previous year and significantly above the national average of 63%.
At Key Stage 4, 80% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and mathematics, with 65% achieving a grade 5 or above, placing Richmond third among local authorities nationally for these measures.
Despite these successes, a notable attainment gap persists between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils. At Key Stage 2, the gap in achieving the expected standard in reading, writing, and mathematics was 34 percentage points, an increase from the previous year. This widening gap is partly attributed to a disproportionately higher number of disadvantaged pupils having Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). When SEND is factored out, the gap reduces but remains above the national average.
A similar trend was observed at Key Stage 4, with a 34 percentage point gap in the proportion achieving grades 4 or above in English and mathematics for disadvantaged pupils, also exceeding the national gap. At Key Stage 4, the non-SEND disadvantaged gap stands at 28 percentage points, which is similar to the 25% observed nationally.
The attainment gap is widening because the good achieving children are moving up
and the children who are achieving well are doing even better.
This is in contrast to the disadvantaged group at the bottom not getting worse, but rather the non-disadvantaged pupils achieving disproportionately highly compared to their national peers.
To address this, the school improvement team is working with schools to implement targeted support. Eight Richmond schools are participating in an action research project on educational disadvantage. These schools are focusing on Quality First Teaching and adaptive practices, ensuring that these individuals benefit from strong and supportive classroom interventions, specifically addressing the vocabulary gap and improving transcription fluency.
Schools that subscribe to the school improvement offer also benefit from half-termly Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) Lead Network meetings. These meetings facilitate collaborative sessions for peer-to-peer sharing of best practices, statutory reporting, and strategic guidance on the best use of PPG funding, as outlined by the Education Endowment Foundation's evidence-based toolkit. Schools can also access bespoke support from the Lead School Improvement Adviser for Educational Disadvantage.
The Department for Education's Best Start in Life strategy is also being implemented, with specific targets to improve early years development for disadvantaged pupils. The strategy includes specific, externally set local authority-level targets to improve the proportion of children achieving a good level of development in the EYFSP. The target is 58% for pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals and 80% for all children.
The committee noted these results and the ongoing efforts to narrow the attainment gap. Further details on school performance and budget strategies can be found in the Public reports pack for the Education and Children's Services Committee.
