'I'll fight to level the playing field: Imran Hussain MP

Whilst A-level students across Bradford and the rest of the country celebrated their results  alongside proud parents and delighted friends, one of the most interesting, and indeed one of the most trumpeted statistics, was that this year will see a record number of 18-year-olds from some of the poorest and most disadvantaged backgrounds going on to further study at university or at college.

Given the immense challenges and significant barriers that are faced by those from working class backgrounds of all communities, getting this far and achieving this result means that there is no other way to describe this news than as an extraordinary achievement that is proof of the hard work and determination of every single student.

Imran Hussain MP (Image: Other)

Yet we cannot ignore the fact that those students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are now going on to further study are doing so not because of an education system that is supported them, despite the best efforts of their teachers.

Instead, they are doing so in spite of a system that is stacked against them and which seems determined to block poorer pupils from achieving their potential.

Nowhere can we see this uneven playing field more clearly than in the funding that schools in Bradford are given compared to the rest of the country.

Over the decade between 2014-15 and 2022-23, funding for Bradford East’s schools increased at a far slower rate than either the regional or national average, and even as funding per pupil has been higher than the average across England, the formula that granted almost £300 more per pupil each year to help overcome Bradford’s higher rates of deprivation was stripped back to just £47 more.

The proportion of children growing up in Bradford is double that of the national average and they are repeatedly outperformed by their peers in terms of academic attainment because of the disadvantage that they face and the lack of opportunities that they have.

The MP says the playing field is far too uneven, even before children start school (Image: PA)

Yet the last Government thought that they could close the gap and help a student in Bradford from a poorer background achieve the same results as a student who has far more opportunities available to them for less than £50 a year.

Even before children start school, the playing field is far too uneven and heavily stacked in favour of those from more affluent families who’re more likely to be able to expose their children to a greater range of learning experiences, to have the time and resources to spend with their children during the crucial stages of their development, and to provide a more secure environment.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds will receive few of those opportunities and instead they are more likely to face the disruption of being forced to frequently move home, of living in cold and crowded accommodation, and even of having to go hungry that is detrimental to their learning and development.

By the time they reach the age of five, disadvantaged students are therefore already almost five months behind their peers, and the impact of falling behind so early is long-lasting and can be catastrophic for the opportunities that are available to them later in life.

Indeed, for those who were eligible for free school meals for at least 80 per cent of their time at school, they will be almost two years behind by the time that they are 16 and deciding whether A-levels and university is an option for them, but by then it will be too late.

Pursuing further study at university or at college is an option that should be available to everyone, and the choice of whether to take up this option should be decided by students and by the hard work that they put in to achieve their grades.

Students recently received their A Level results and many are heading to university (Image: PA)

It should not be a decision that is made for them by their disadvantaged backgrounds before they have chosen their subjects, before they have moved onto secondary education, or even before they have sat down for their very first day of school.

That’s why for the next five years and more I’m going to be working to raise the aspirations of every single student across Bradford East, and why I’m fighting to secure the funding and support that we need to overturn the disadvantages that they face, to level the playing field for everyone, and to make their aspirations a reality.

Seeing more students from disadvantaged backgrounds get better grades is something we absolutely should celebrate, but until more students across Bradford can share in it and have their lives determined by their choices, not by their backgrounds, we must not stop fighting to do more.