New data has been published by the government showcasing a lack of support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in the country's secondary school system.
The figures revealed that 33.9 per cent of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are achieving five A* to C grade GCSEs including English and maths, while the national average for all 16 to 18-year-olds stands at 58.2 per cent.
Furthermore, in 399 schools which have more than ten disadvantaged pupils, just 20 per cent are attaining this level of achievement.
Education minister Nick Gibb commented following the release of the statistics that greater support must be provided to this group and new proposals are to be implemented that will target failing schools, forcing them to up their standards.
He commented: "We will not hesitate to tackle underperformance in any school, including academies. Heads should be striving to make improvements year on year and we will not let schools coast with mediocre performance."
The situation was described as a "shocking waste of talent" by the minister, who noted that it is unacceptable that young people across the country are not being given the best support to fulfil their potential.
"We have introduced a tough new inspection regime targeted at the weakest performing schools and ministers now have clear new powers to intervene when schools are failing," Mr Gibb added.
However, according to educational psychologist Teresa Bliss, the present system for ranking schools in tables does not tell the whole story for UK education.
She argued that there are a number of establishments that play the current system in order to avoid sanctions at present, but they are not doing all they can to help fulfil the potential of their students.
Indeed, Ms Bliss commented: "Some schools with a bright and capable intake do coast along and the pupils achieve the required A-C grades with relatively little effort from the staff."
Posted by Michael Chapman