The Department for Education has published its 2026 Key Stage 4 statistics, reporting that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers narrowed by the largest amount since 2017 and that almost half of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths.
The department's disadvantage gap index, which summarises the relative gap in English and maths results between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils, fell from 3.92 in 2025 to 3.82 this year. A lower figure means a smaller gap. The index stood at 3.66 in 2017, its joint lowest on record.
The figures bear directly on the government's commitment, set out in the schools white paper in February, to halve the disadvantage gap. The Institute for Government has said the target runs to 2040 and is measured in Attainment 8 points rather than the index the department led on today.
According to the department, 46.3% of pupils in state-funded schools achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, up from 45.4% in 2025 and 3.1 percentage points higher than in 2019. The gap between disadvantaged and other pupils on that measure fell from 27.3 percentage points to 26.8.
Schools Week, citing the department's data, reported that 27.5% of disadvantaged pupils reached grade 5 or above in English and maths, up from 25.8% last year, against 54.3% of pupils not known to be disadvantaged.
Average Attainment 8 scores, which measure performance across eight GCSE subjects, rose by 0.1 to 46.2. Schools Week reported that this remains below the 2019 figure of 46.7. The department said the Attainment 8 gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers also narrowed, but did not give a figure.
The National Foundation for Educational Research has questioned whether the narrowing reflects a genuine change. The share of pupils recorded as disadvantaged rose from 28.2% in 2024/25 to 29.8% in 2025/26, according to Schools Week, continuing a rise that the department's own 2024/25 release attributed to transitional protections introduced during the rollout of Universal Credit.
Jenna Julius, research director at NFER, said the data "suggests that the disadvantaged gap narrowed slightly between 2025 and 2026". She added: "Due to transitional arrangements introduced in 2018 to smooth out the introduction of Universal Credit, it is not possible to establish whether this is due to a genuine improvement or simply due to a change in the composition of the group considered to be disadvantaged."
The department said the narrowing had been driven by greater improvements in disadvantaged pupils' achievements. It does not appear to have published analysis separating that effect from the change in the size of the disadvantaged cohort.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: "These figures show encouraging progress, with more children achieving a grade 5 or above in English and maths, and the disadvantage gap narrowing by the largest amount since 2017.
"But too many children's life chances are still shaped by their postcode, with those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with SEND continuing to miss out on the opportunities they deserve."
The department said performance improved in every region except the South West. London remained the highest-performing region, Schools Week reported, while the West Midlands recorded the lowest proportion achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths.
Among pupils receiving SEN support, 23.7% achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths, the department said, and the gap between those pupils and pupils with an education, health and care plan widened from 14.9 to 15.9 percentage points. Attainment among White British disadvantaged pupils rose from 18.5% to 19.5% on the same measure.
No Progress 8 scores have been published for a second year, Schools Week reported, because Key Stage 2 data for this cohort is missing as a result of the pandemic.
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