The call comes from the Education Policy Institute, as its annual report finds that progress in closing the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has stalled.
Based on current trends the EPI says it will take over 100 years to close the disadvantage gap in English and Maths at the end of secondary school, with the gap not forecast to close until 2155.
For children in 2017 the gap between disadvantaged children - that is pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the previous six years - and their peers is an average of 4.3 months in development behind in the early years, rising to 9.4 months at the end of primary school, and 18.4 months after children take their GCSEs in secondary school.
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