SCHOOL students on free school meals have been abandoned by the Tories, Labour said today, as the exams watchdog revealed a growing “attainment gap.”

As data released by Ofqual showed that the poorest pupils were less than half as likely to get top GCSE grades, opposition leaders blasted ministers for presiding over year-on-year growth in inequality.

Just under 14 per cent of grades for students on free meals were at Level 7 or above — equivalent to an old A grade — compared with 31 per cent of the rest, a gap that has grown by 17 per cent in four years.