New statistics reveal that many deaf children in Wales are not reaching their full potential

NDCS Cymru is today publishing data on the educational attainment of deaf children and young people in Wales. Such data has never been available in Wales before and reveals that many deaf children are falling behind their hearing peers at every Key Stage.

In 2008, deaf pupils were 30% less likely to achieve 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C than their hearing peers. Deafness is not a learning disability and there is no reason why deaf children cannot achieve the same as their hearing peers - so long as they are given appropriate support.

Jayne Dulson, Director of NDCS Cymru, said: "NDCS Cymru recognises the good work that teachers and other professionals are doing to support deaf children. However, narrowing the attainment gap requires more investment in  education, health, and support services for deaf children and their families.

"We are therefore calling on the Welsh Assembly Government and local authorities to take action to close this gap."

The availability of attainment data for deaf children and young people in Wales represents a significant step forward in the UK-wide NDCS Campaign to Close the Gap in attainment. The campaign was launched last year with the publication of our Must do better! report. The report revealed that deaf children and young people were underachieving in England and Northern Ireland, but the evidence of an attainment gap in Wales was anecdotal only.

NDCS Cymru is disappointed that the attainment gap is so large, but believes that this data will help to persuade key decision makers to improve education and support services for deaf children and young people in Wales.

As a starting point, Ann Jones AM, Chair of the All Party Group on Deaf Issues, has today submitted a Statement of Opinion at the Welsh Assembly. The Statement calls on Assembly Members to recognise the attainment gap and demonstrate their commitment to improving services for deaf children and young people in Wales.

NDCS Cymru will also continue to campaign to Close the Gap in educational attainment by addressing the barriers that many deaf children and young people face. These barriers are outlined in the Must do better! report, and include issues in schools such as poor acoustics and a lack of deaf awareness. 

The attainment gaps were calculated from statistics which were provided by the Welsh Assembly Government's School Statistics Branch, following requests by NDCS Cymru.

Due to differences in data collection, the statistics are not directly comparable with the NDCS figures for England.

To allow for a direct comparison, the Welsh data specifically refers to deaf children who have no other special educational needs and hearing children who have no special educational need. 

The data covers deaf children who are on School Action, School Action Plus, and in receipt of a Statement. Due to the way in which data is collected, it does not cover all deaf children who do not receive specialist support. Therefore, NDCS Cymru contnues to campaign for more robust data on the attainment of all deaf children.

Data on the attainment levels of deaf children and young people in 2009 is currently unavailable. NDCS Cymru believes it is important to continue to monitor attainment levels and plans to work with the Welsh Assembly School Statistics Branch to achieve this data in the next few months.

Key Statistics

In 2008, deaf children and young people were...

• 30% less likely to achieve 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C than their hearing peers.
• 41% less likely to reach the benchmark grade at Key Stage 3
• 25% less likely to reach the benchmark grade at Key Stage 2
• 21% less likely to reach the benchmark grade at Key Stage 1

Between 2006 and 2008*, deaf children and young people were...

• 24% less likely to achieve 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C than their hearing peers.
• 38% less likely to reach the benchmark grade at Key Stage 3
• 37% less likely to reach the benchmark grade at Key Stage 2
• 27% less likely to reach the benchmark grade at Key Stage 1

*NDCS Cymru has also calculated attainment levels over three year periods due to the relatively small cohort of deaf pupils in each year.

More information:

• New educational data for Wales.
• Have a look at Ann Jones' Statement of Opinion to see which AMs have signed up  to Close the Gap in attainment. (external link)
• NDCS Cymru's Close the Gap campaign.
• Poor acoustics are preventing many deaf children from listening effectively in the classroom. Read more about our Sounds Good? campaign.