It has long been perceived that students in rural areas achieve higher GCSE outcomes than their urban counterparts, largely due to the assumption that rural populations are generally more affluent.
However, data suggests a different reality for disadvantaged learners in rural areas. Luke Graham’s The Grass Ceiling (2023) highlights this disparity, arguing that the diverse socio-economic make-up of rural populations has obscured significant hidden disadvantages.
In reality, GCSE attainment for those students in receipt of free school meals (FSMs) is highest in urban areas like Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
Indeed, according to the Social Mobility Commission (2024), the West Midlands and the North West have “overtaken London as the region with the highest proportion of FSM pupils in their schools” and the West Midlands is seeing the “London effect”.
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