Metric permalink

Disadvantage attainment gap (KS4, England)

Official

Part of the Childhood and Social Floor domain. Disadvantage gap index at Key Stage 4, measuring the attainment difference between pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers.

Latest data

Latest reading

Latest value
3.92gap index

2024

Previous value
3.93gap index
4pts
Direction of badnesshigher is worse

A higher reading is treated as worse for this indicator.

Score composition

Stress score

62/100

Blended from three components: (60% weight), trend (30% weight) and volatility (10% weight). Full formula on the methodology page.

Level · 60% weight

77percentile

Percentile: this metric is scored against its own history, where today sits between its best and worst recorded years.

Trend · 30% weight

49stable

Measured from the direction and size of the change between the two most recent readings.

Volatility · 10% weight

17

Measured from how much this indicator has swung period on period across its recorded history.

Data confidence and provenance

Confidence and source

0.85High0.85

How much weight to put on the reading, the mean data-confidence across the component metrics (source quality, recency and completeness).

Source

Department for EducationOfficial

Key Stage 4 performance

Update frequency
Annual
Reliability
high
View source series ↗

Provenance

Provider
DfE
Series ID
18e39901/CdRId
Frequency
AY (DfE EES API)
Accessed
13 August 2026

Known weakness

Annual frequency and definitional changes to the gap index methodology in 2019 limit long-run comparability before and after the reform.

Notes

Verified official value from DfE (18e39901/CdRId), accessed 2026-08-13.

Historical values

History

PeriodValueRelative
20104.07
20113.89
20123.8
20133.74
20143.79
20153.78
20163.66
20173.68
20183.7
20193.66
20203.79
20213.84
20223.94
20233.93
20243.92