Responding to today's new analysis of this year's Key Stage 4 results, including GCSEs, James Bowen, assistant general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“These results are testament to the hard work of students and school staff.

“While changes to assessment following the pandemic mean we take great care with comparisons between recent years, it is clear that the government needs to do far more to help schools tackle the disadvantage gap, which remains a real concern.

"The reality is that funding for disadvantaged pupils has stagnated, and the government failed to give schools the levels of resources they needed to support pupils recovering from the pandemic.

"This isn’t just about schools alone. Services like social care and mental health support have suffered from chronic under-funding over the last decade and this has an impact on pupils too.

"A renewed commitment to closing the disadvantage gap should be a high priority for this and any future government.”