DISADVANTAGED pupils in Wirral saw their results decline in 2019, disappointing councillors and education officers alike.

There was a 4% fall in disadvantaged pupils who got a grade four or better at GCSE, equivalent to the former C grade.

That contrasts poorly with the national picture, which showed results for children from the same backgrounds improving, albeit only slightly.

There was a 0.5% rise in grade four or better results in Maths and a 0.2% rise in minimum pass rates in English across the country.

Pupils are classed as disadvantaged if they are eligible for free school meals or are looked after by the state.

Labour councillor Tony Norbury wanted to know how this has happened, given the allocation of pupil premium money – extra funding given to schools to help disadvantaged pupils – in Wirral.

At a children and families committee meeting last night, he said: "My understanding is that there was a pupil premium allocated over a 10 year period.

"I'm so disappointed that the [inequality] gap is widening, even though the money is supposed to be spent on disadvantaged children.

"Can we have a more in-depth report on where the gap is getting wider.

"Is it narrowing at primary and widening again at secondary?"

He added that these results show current ideas are not working and the solutions he was hearing were no different to all the promises he has heard before.

Sue Talbot, Wirral Council's lead commissioner for schools, said there were new ideas being looked at.

In particular, strategies which have worked elsewhere in the country will be considered by head teachers in Wirral's schools.

Previously, she said, there has not been very much engagement with ideas from outside the North West.

Another major problem brought up by the figures was the difference in results between different parts of the borough.

The most stark figure was that over 70% of pupils get a grade 5 (between a C and a B in the old system) or better in English in South Wirral and West Wirral, whereas just 46.6% of pupils achieved this grade in Wallasey.

For Birkenhead, we can see there was a near 5% fall in grade 5 or better outcomes in English, but the overall figure for English results in Birkenhead was not available.

Cllr Ian Lewis, leader of the Tories at Wirral Council, asked Ms Talbot what was being done to tackle this inequality.

Ms Talbot said Wirral had secured a special education endowment to tackle the problem.

This endowment, secured by just two local authorities in the North West, will pay for an intensive training programme which will help teachers put in specific measures to reverse this trend of inequality.

Improved results can be expected as soon as this summer due to the fund, but Ms Talbot said the biggest gains can be expected after two or three years of the programme.

The next meeting of Wirral Council’s children and families committee is on March 17.