Close the Gap

Too many deaf children across the UK are under achieving in schools, compared to their hearing peers. We need to close the gap.

Do you live in Scotland or Wales? Click on your country to find out what we're doing in your area on education.

NDCS's UK-wide campaign report, Must do better!, set out the barriers that are holding deaf children back and recommendations for Government action. 

Download the report below.

After the general election on 6 May 2010, a new Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government was formed. In any news stories from before this date, references to the Government refer to the previous Labour Goverment.   

8 July 2010
New government figures show that too many deaf children are still under achieving.
Read more > 

9 April 2010
New laws on statements, Ofsted and equality to benefit deaf children.
Read more >

24 February 2010
The Government has published an action plan in response to the Lamb inquiry report into special educational needs, offering the promise of a brighter future for deaf children.
Read more >

28 January 2010
The Government has refused to take action that would have helped ensure equality for deaf students in exams.
Read more >

26 March 2009
MPs have been pressing the Government to ensure Ofsted inspectors are deaf aware. 
Read more > 

12 November 2009
NDCS helps win campaign victory on access to apprenticeships for disabled people.
Read more >

16 October 2009
NDCS wins major campaign victory on acoustics to ensure that new schools sound good.
Read more >

25 June 2009
The Government has announced £800,000 of investment for a project to improve support for deaf children who use British Sign Language.
Read more > 

6 January 2009
A Government report on communication has resulted in an important campaign win for NDCS on better data.
Read more >

27 November 2008
One in four MPs have signed parliamentary petitions calling on the Government to close the gap.
Read more >

Help us to Close the gap by by joining the NDCS Campaigns Network.

You can also support the campaign by telling us about your child's experiences.

• NDCS has published spreadsheets and analysis of the government figures on deaf children's achievements at school.
  Read more >
• In late 2007/early 2008, we asked parents to give us their views on their deaf child's education. Read our summary of the results to find out what parents thought.
  NDCS survey on educational attainment - results (98 kb)
• Download our most recent briefing note to MPs on why the Government needs to commit to closing the gap between deaf children and their hearing peers.
  NDCS briefing on educational under achievement by deaf children in England (September 2009) (143 kb)
• Read about the experiences of families of deaf children for examples of why urgent action is needed to close the attainment gap. 
  Read more >
• To support our campaign, NDCS asked children across the UK to draw images of what they want to be when they grow up.
  View gallery >

• Children from Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children in London were also asked to tell us what they want to be when they grow up.
  View video >

• Click to view a summary of NDCS's attainment campaign presented as a subtitled British Sign Language (BSL) video clip. 

Got any questions? Want to tell us about your experiences?

Email campaigns@ndcs.org.uk or leave a comment at the bottom of this page. 

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