The North East continues to have the fewest GCSE pupils getting top grades, with ministers being urged to invest to support the poorest pupils before the gap to London grows even wider.
Just 17.8% of youngsters getting their results in our region on Thursday received a grade 7 or above.
That is the lowest rate in England and is the same as in 2024.
While the figure has improved from the last pre-pandemic GCSE results in 2019, when it stood at 16.4%, the gap to pupils in London has grown in that time – increasing from 9.3% to 10.6%.
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said that regional inequalities felt by a generation of children whose education was hit hard by the impact of Covid-19 were “of significant concern”.
Mr Murison, a former Newcastle councillor, added: “In the North and Midlands, the gap in grade 7 and above with London has not closed since the pandemic. It remains more than ten percentage points in the North East, East Midlands and Yorkshire & the Humber – a significantly wider gap than before Covid. In the North East, the gap with London narrowed by just 0.1%, and only because London’s results fell from 2024, not due to any real improvement here.
Image: Freepik
“This year’s cohort started secondary school in September 2020, with much of their early education shaped by lockdowns and disruption – an impact that could have been mitigated if then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson had invested the level of Covid recovery funding experts said was needed. Successive governments also allowed the real-terms value of the Pupil Premium to erode. If the Education Secretary is serious about tackling the persistent disadvantage faced by white working-class children, spending decisions by her department must prioritise the poorest pupils, or risk wasting yet more of the North’s young talent.”
Schools North East, a network representing hundreds of schools around the region, said Thursday’s results were a “tribute to the resilience of young people, the support of their families, and the dedication of their teachers”. 64.9% of GCSE students in the North East received at least a grade 4, which is considered a pass, which was a slight decline on 2024 but represents a higher rate than the West Midlands, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber.
However, the education charity added that “deep-rooted structural inequalities”, including crumbling school buildings and high levels of deprivation, means the North East still lags behind London and the South East.
It has called for long-term investment in early years education, fairer funding for schools to reflect the depth of disadvantage in the North East, and improved support services including SEND provision and careers advice.
Director, Schools North East
Image: Schoolsweek
Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, said: “North East students have done brilliantly again this year, but the structural gap between our region and London has grown yet again. This is not about school quality. Every August, our students prove their talent and determination, but deep-rooted inequalities remain unaddressed. Without urgent, sustained action, the gap will keep widening — and it will not be because our students or teachers are any less capable.”
The North East has the highest school absence rates and the largest proportion of children with SEND in the country, while having the lowest rates of private tutoring.
In 2024/25, 32.3% of pupils in the North East were eligible for free school meals, compared to a national average of 24.6%, while that figure rises to above 40% in some parts of Newcastle.
Education minister Catherine McKinnell said on Thursday that the Government is “tackling” the barriers to better grades.
Addressing the struggles faced by white working-class children, the Labour MP for Newcastle North told Times Radio: “We’ve seen there have been some improvements in our school system in the last decade, there have been over 30 years improvements in our school system.
“But this challenge has persisted, which is why we are very focused on tackling child poverty in the early years. We’re extending free school meals to (an) additional half a million children.
“We’re investing in free breakfast clubs to make sure that children get that really good start to the day, both from a socialised perspective, but also food. So, we are tackling what we see are the barriers that are holding young people back, and also making sure that they want to be in school as well.”
