Schools "failing poor families"

The education system is failing children from poor families, says a new report.

The study, from the University of Manchester, says white children from poor backgrounds who struggle with literacy are not getting enough support.

It is getting more difficult for poor families to get places in sought-after schools as better-informed parents learn to “play” the admissions system.

Pressure to cut truancy figures means some parents are being encouraged to take their children out of school altogether, leaving them with no education. It estimates that between 10,000 and 50,000 school aged children are currently out of the system.

Report by Mel Ainscow and Alan Dyson University of Manchester Centre for Equity in Education