CHILDREN in the North of England are often left behind due to a mix of high deprivation and lower performing schools, according to a new study.

The Growing Up North study, published today, says that children from disadvantaged backgrounds in the North are less likely to succeed in schools than children from similar backgrounds in London.

The report was produced by Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield, who, over the course of a year, visited various cities and towns across the country to look at issues like health, access to facilities and school performance of children from birth to adulthood.

Mrs Longfield grew up in Otley and now divides her time between her home in Ilkley and London, and spoke to numerous groups in Bradford as part of her study.

She said: “Research shows that children who grow up in affluent families enjoy relative success wherever they live in the country. However this is not the case for more disadvantaged children and the fact of the matter is that there are more disadvantaged communities in the North than many other areas of the country, and many of those have entrenched disadvantages over several generations. Children in some areas look at new developments in the North but have little hope they might feel the benefits or have increased choices in life as a result.

“Children in receipt of free school meals in London are 40 per cent more likely to get good GCSE result in Maths and English and two times more likely to go to university than children receiving free school meals in the North.”

She calls for “new investment and an urgent focus” adding: “If the North is to flourish it needs to grow and retain the talents of all its children and truly offer the opportunities in life they hope for.”

Among her recommendations are calls for children’s prospects to be placed at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse and given the same attention as economic regeneration, to create a new “Northern schools programme” to improve leadership and governance and boost recruitment, and for arts and sports bodies to prioritise funding for children with disadvantaged backgrounds.

The report praises work done in Bradford by groups like the National Literacy Trust to improve the reading skills of Bradford youngsters.

Also singled out for praise is the Bradford Education Covenant, which was set up to look at how education providers, community groups, local businesses parents could work together to improve school standards in Bradford.

The report says: “From the civic leaders of the North including Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, the Leader of Bradford, who has made schools in her area a priority for everyone, to business people working together to reach 900,000 young people getting experience of work, the North is coming together.”

Earlier this year the Department For Education revealed that Bradford would receive more than £11million in government funding to raise the area’s education standards.