In York we have long prided ourselves on the quality of education provided in our schools.

Both primary and secondary schools consistently perform above the national average in terms of exam results.

A new report reveals, however, that while most children in York are flourishing at school, one group is being failed. Unfortunately, they are the very children who most need help - youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The report, to the city council’s learning and culture scrutiny committee, says that throughout their school career, disadvantaged York children - those in care, who qualify for free school meals, or who have special educational needs - fall steadily behind the others. By the time they reach 19, the gap in educational attainment between these disadvantaged youngsters and the rest is among the largest in the country.

“The gap is evident in early years and widens throughout compulsory education, post-16 participation, and beyond,” says the report’s author, council assistant director of education Maxine Squire.

”Our system delivers outstanding outcomes for the cohort as a whole, but fails a significant number of young people.”

This is deeply shocking. We have known for some time that, while York as a whole is prosperous, there are pockets of genuine poverty.

To see this pattern replicated in school performance, however, is extremely worrying. It is, of course, good that most children are doing well. But what chance do disadvantaged youngsters have of ever escaping the poverty they were born into if they fall further and further behind at school?

The council says it is determined to learn lessons and ‘tackle this issue effectively’.

It must live up to that pledge.