Five-year-olds in England with special educational needs 20 months behind peers
Since Covid closed schools, disrupting learning and triggering falls in attendance, there has been widespread concern about the growing attainment gap that leaves disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs significantly behind their peers.
According to the Education Policy Institute's (EPI) annual report, published on Tuesday, there have been 'precious few signs of recovery'.
Though the disadvantage gap at primary and secondary schools narrowed marginally between 2023 and 2024, it says disadvantaged pupils remain significantly behind their peers, with the gap up to a month wider than before the pandemic.
The gap has grown yet wider among children in reception class right at the start of their education, with pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) the most severely affected, the EPI analysis shows.
In 2024, five-year-olds with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legally binding documents that outline the additional support required – were 20.1 months behind their peers, the widest gap on record since EPI analysis began more than a decade earlier.
Five-year-olds from lower-income families than their peers are also falling further behind, prompting warnings that the impact of the pandemic has had 'long-lasting effects on infants' development'.
Natalie Perera, EPI's chief executive, said the report showed that five years on from the pandemic the education system had yet to recover.
'Our youngest and most vulnerable learners are still paying the price. This should be a significant concern for policymakers,' she said. 'Without swift action, we are baking lifelong disadvantage into the system. Higher levels of funding for disadvantage, addressing student absence, and fixing the Send system, which is at crisis point, are urgent priorities.'
The EPI report compares pupil attainment in 2024 with the previous year and with 2019, the year immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, based on economic disadvantage, Send, gender, ethnicity, English as an additional language (EAL) and geography.
It finds that fewer disadvantaged young people are participating in education post-16 than at any point since 2019, resulting in more than one in five disadvantaged 16-year-olds out of education or training.
At key stage 4, which culminates in GCSEs and in education for 16-19-year-olds, the attainment of white British pupils has declined since 2019 relative to all other ethnic groups and girls have 'made consistently less progress than boys across secondary school once their attainment at age 11 is taken into account'.
John Barneby, the chief executive of Oasis Community Learning multi-academy trust, said: 'The growing inequalities facing our youngest and most vulnerable children – particularly those with Send – are deeply concerning and risk entrenching disadvantage for a lifetime.
'Addressing these challenges requires bold investment and a shared commitment across society to give every child the opportunity to flourish and find their place in the world.'
Pepe Di'Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'From a government whose mission is that background should not be a determining factor in success, we need to see more purpose and positive action.
'The gap identified between five-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities and their peers is particularly alarming, and emphasises how important it is for the government to get right its planned reform of a system that is under unsustainable pressure and is not working well for anyone.'
A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'This report lays bare the widening disadvantage gap this government inherited, and which we are working flat out to solve through the plan for change.
'From next year we will be investing £9bn per year in a revitalised early-education system that helps get children ready for school, with working parents receiving 30 funded childcare hours a week, an almost 50% increase in early years disadvantage funding, and a strong new focus on improving the quality of reception-year education.'
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The most excruciating form of headache, confined to one side of the head, cluster headaches last for an hour or two, often waking sufferers in the night. They are rare, and those affected – most commonly men – have rated the pain at 9.7 out of 10 – worse than childbirth at 7.2, a gunshot wound at 6 and a migraine at 5.4. They will usually become agitated and feel the need to move around, rocking and possibly hitting their head. 'It will happen every day, once or twice a day, for six to eight weeks at a time,' says Prof Goadsby. The exact cause is unknown, but these headaches affect an area of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a tiny region in the hypothalamus which acts as the body's central circadian pacemaker, regulating daily rhythms including the sleep-wake cycle. This may explain why cluster headaches tend to appear at the same time each day, and even occur at the same time each year. 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'In those who are susceptible, it can trigger migraine.' How to treat them Drinking 2-2½ litres of fluid a day (around six to eight glasses) is essential to keep headaches at bay. Drinking too much caffeine can cause headaches for some people, but conversely, if you are a regular tea or coffee drinker, suddenly reducing your intake can also trigger them. Caffeine's stimulating effects are exerted primarily by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that promotes sleepiness and relaxation by slowing down nerve cell activity. 'When you withdraw caffeine, you get a headache from the sudden increase in adenosine activity,' says Prof Goadsby. How to treat them Over-the-counter pain relief should help, but don't use it too often. 'If you're taking painkillers more than three days a week, it will give you a headache,' says Dr Taylor. Research shows that medication overuse can turn episodic headaches into chronic headache disorders, increasing their frequency and intensity. Ophthalmodynia periodica, or ice-pick headache, is characterised by sudden, sharp stabbing pains behind the eyes which last for a few seconds at a time and can spread to the rest of your head. 'It comes from nowhere, and you can't stop it,' says Prof Goadsby. The exact causes are unknown, though a 2017 study found that these types of headaches are more common in women, and tend to affect people who usually suffer from migraines or cluster headaches. 'Around a third of migraine sufferers experience this kind of headache,' Prof Goadbsy adds. How to treat them 'You just need to pause, let it play out and it will pass,' says Prof Goadsby. If they are happening frequently (over several consecutive days) and having a debilitating impact, seeing a doctor to rule out an underlying cause is a must. Can headaches be hormonal? Migraines disproportionately affect women – 20.7 per cent globally compared with 9.7 per cent of men, according to one 2022 review of research. For women aged 18 to 49, migraine is the leading cause of disability throughout the world. This is believed to be a result of hormonal fluctuations, particularly oestrogen, with migraines often most commonly occurring during a woman's reproductive and childbearing years. Researchers estimate around 50 to 60 per cent of women with migraines experience menstrual migraines, occurring in the days leading up to menstruation, when oestrogen drops. 'It peaks at around the age of 40 for women, and if you begin to experience migraines around this time, it's often the first sign of the hormonal fluctuations which come with perimenopause,' says Prof Goadsby. 'After menopause, women have a four-out-of-five chance of migraines going away completely.' If headaches are debilitating during perimenopause, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can lessen their frequency and severity in some women. In others, it can worsen them, so speak to your GP about options. How can you prevent headaches? Many types of headaches can be prevented or at least reduced in frequency or severity. Proven prevention strategies include: Drinking enough water Keeping a consistent sleep and eating schedule Exercising regularly Managing stress Eating a healthy diet Supplementing with magnesium and vitamin B2 Lifestyle changes, including maintaining a consistent sleep and eating schedule, drinking enough water and taking regular moderate exercise, are the simplest and most effective place to start. Relaxing after stress is a known trigger, which explains why some people wake up after a lie-in on a Saturday with a pounding headache. This is because, as your levels of stress hormones drop, there is a rapid release of neurotransmitters which send out impulses to blood vessels to constrict then dilate, which causes a headache. Prof Goadsby says: 'It may sound slightly hair shirt, but it's better to resist the temptation to lie in and get up at the same time every day.' Managing stress throughout the week is vital, too. Techniques such as deep breathing, meditation or even a 10-minute walk around the block during a lunch break can help prevent stress levels climbing too high. Eating a healthy diet is also likely to help. Keeping blood sugar levels steady by avoiding too many refined white carbohydrates and replacing them with fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and wholegrains is sensible. It's often believed chocolate is a trigger, but according to Prof Goadsby: 'Research indicates that during the 'premonitory' early phase of a migraine, people may crave certain foods. So rather than triggering the migraine, reaching for a chocolate bar could be a warning that a migraine is starting.' A 2025 review of research concluded that taking magnesium is effective in reducing migraine attack frequency and severity. Taking 400mg per day of riboflavin, or vitamin B2 supplements, for at least three months has also been shown to have a similarly positive effect.
