Children in coastal communities like mine are being left behind – this attainment gap cannot continue
Isle of Wight, England, UK (Alamy)
4 min read
The Isle of Wight has a proud tradition of literary, scientific and innovative achievement.
But that was the past, and there is a very real danger that this reputation is masking the reality that our children are being left behind – with the attainment gap widening and post-16 opportunities dwindling.
As the first Labour politician ever to represent the Isle of Wight in Parliament (and first MP to own a fish and chip shop), I am very aware that I do not come from a ‘typical’ Labour or red wall seat. What is truly shocking, however, is that the island’s idyllic reputation seems to diminish the scale of our inequalities – a perception that means we almost always miss out on the funding and support we need.
Some children have never left the island
The island has inspired some of our greatest literary figures, from Charles Dickens to Lord Tennyson. It has been home to groundbreaking scientific innovation, including the development of the Black Knight research ballistic missile, and it continues to yield some of the most significant dinosaur skeletons ever discovered in Britain. Yet behind this rich cultural and scientific heritage lies a stark reality: the island is lagging behind in educational outcomes, and far too many children and young people are being denied the opportunities they deserve.
One in three island children leave school unable to read at the expected level, and we have the second-highest level of educational deprivation in the south. Our GCSE results also place us at the very bottom of the national rankings. This is not the position that our children deserve, and it is unsustainable.
This challenge is not unique to the Isle of Wight – many coastal communities face similar pressures. But the island experiences a double, even triple, disadvantage: we are coastal, we are rural and we are entirely dependent on privately owned ferries as a lifeline service. No other English island relies on a single, privately operated method of transport to get on and off. And the consequences are significant. Some children have never left the island. School trips are cancelled or just never arranged, opportunities disappear, and too many students grow up without ever experiencing life beyond the island.
Many of my coastal Labour colleagues, particularly those first elected in 2024, have encountered similar challenges. That is why, at last year’s Labour Party Conference, we established the Coastal Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP): a group of 66 Labour MPs committed to championing the needs of coastal towns. Since then, the Coastal PLP has been pressing for a ‘Coastal Challenge’, modelled on the highly successful Blair-era London Challenge that transformed school standards and life chances across the capital.
I am encouraged that the government has recognised the urgency of this issue. In the Schools White Paper, ministers confirmed the launch of ‘Mission Coastal’ – a new initiative designed to confront entrenched inequality in seaside communities and expand educational opportunity for children growing up by the coast.
If this programme delivers anything close to the success of the London Challenge, it could be truly transformative for students on the island. Before the London Challenge began in 2003, London’s state schools were among the poorest performing in England – yet by 2010 London was the most successful school system in the whole of the UK.
This won’t be easy. Analyses of secondary school performance show coastal schools perform worse than non-coastal schools, even after accounting for disadvantage – with some coastal areas seeing disadvantaged pupils score as low as –1.41 on Progress 8, compared with +0.27 in the best performing inland urban areas.
Yes the challenge is significant – but I believe this government is ready to meet it. And with the right investment and targeted support, I am confident that young people on the island – and in coastal communities everywhere – can flourish, so that we can finally turn the tide on the coastal education attainment gap.
Richard Quigley is Labour MP for Isle of Wight West
