Responding to a new Educational Policy Institute (EPI) report, which reveals how educational equalities vary across the country, but are not inevitable, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Early years education and support can be pivotal in mitigating the impact of disadvantage on children’s learning, as this report shows, and we have welcomed the new government’s moves to prioritise this with initiatives including expanding nursery provision in schools and increasing the early years pupil premium.

“It’s vital that school leaders receive the funding needed to deliver these, and that more broadly schools benefit from far more investment than they did under the last government to enable them to better support pupils who need the most help

“But it’s crucial that as a country we address the root causes of disadvantage, as well as treating the symptoms in schools and across society. We need the government’s child poverty taskforce to deliver tangible results, and much more to be done to equip children’s social care and mental health services to support children and families facing challenges in their lives.”