THE education gap between disadvantaged pupils in Darlington and their schoolmates is widening faster than anywhere in the country, figures released today show.

Children in Darlington who receive pupil premium funding are on average 25 months behind their peers by the time they reach their GCSEs, research from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found.

By the end of primary school, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds or with special educational needs are more than a year behind.

Education leaders in the town have now called for extra Government funding and new strategies to help the narrow the divide.

Darlington was singled out as its 'disadvantage gap' is widening at an alarming rate.

The Redcar and Cleveland area was also mentioned for its disparities between underprivileged children and their classmates.

Both primary and secondary school pupils in Darlington saw large increases in the gap even compared to similar local authorities, by three per cent by the end of primary and eight per cent by the end of secondary school.

Dean Judson, head of Hurworth School, near Darlington, who earlier this year co-ordinated a letter to parents from every school in the town warning of chronic underfunding, said parts of the country where the gap was closing tended to be better funded areas in London and the South-East.

He said: "It just seems to be down to money. Those areas which have benefited from significant financial investment, it has helped them employ strategies to close the gap."

He added: "I think we need to dig a little bit deeper into these figures. If they have done it on a level playing field in terms of funding then we need to look at how they have done that, but if they haven't then it is simply an issue of money."

Councillor Cyndi Hughes, Darlington Borough Council's spokesperson for children and young people, said: "I am hopeful that this report will lead to additional government funding opportunities to benefit young people here in Darlington, just as additional funding has helped narrow gaps in attainment in other parts of the country.

"Funding for schools is only part of the equation, however. In Darlington we have stark gaps in health, wealth and educational attainment between our most comfortable residents and our most deprived.

"I believe these challenges require strategic place-based resourcing and coordination rather than compartmentalised fixes. Government funding cuts since 2012 to the public sector – local authorities, health and police – and recent threats to reduce education funding in real terms is probably more responsible for the widening gap than anything else.”

The report showed that nationally poorer pupils could fall behind by two months each year, and the "persistently disadvantaged" were at least two years behind their peers in terms of educational attainment.

While some areas, particularly in London, and the South and West, were managing to narrow the gap significantly, at the current rate, if nothing more is done to help, it will take 50 years for the gap to close completely, the EPI said.

The report is based on data from the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database, with disadvantage referring to those entitled to pupil premium funding, which is given to schools for students with special educational needs, learning difficulties, behavioural problems or looked-after children.

"'Persistently disadvantaged" refers to those entitled to free school meals for 80 per cent of their time at secondary school.

Nationally, the report found that the attainment gap for persistently disadvantaged pupils by the end of secondary school had widened slightly by 0.3 months since 2007.

The authors said: "We find England’s education system also neglects those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), who struggle to keep pace with their peers."

It added: "Areas such as Darlington and South Tyneside are taking a step backwards with closing the gap, having performed particularly badly since 2012 compared with similar areas."

The EPI called on the government to consider widening its "opportunity areas" scheme to the areas with sizeable gaps which have increased since 2012. The scheme focuses on social mobility "coldspots" to form partnerships between education institutions, universities, businesses and charities to increase youngsters' chances.

David Robinson, director of post-16 and skills at the EPI, said: “Our analysis finds a divide between the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and their peers, as well as a sharp distinction between different regions of England.

“The Government has made efforts to address this through targeted local interventions, including opportunity areas. Our analysis shows however that opportunity areas don't always match up with places where the disadvantage gap in education is widest, meaning consideration needs to be given to expanding these interventions to areas with the highest levels of disadvantage."

A DfE spokesperson said: “We are determined to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, get the excellent education they deserve.

“Our data, which looks at the number of children who have been eligible for free school meals in the last 6 years, shows the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has narrowed since 2011.

“But there is more to do. That is why, through the Pupil Premium, we are investing almost £2.5bn of additional funding this year to support schools in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. 

“On top of this, our £72m Opportunity Areas programme will not only create opportunities for young people in social mobility ‘coldspots’ across the country, but best practice will be spread wider to more schools to ensure all young people get the opportunities they deserve.”