Councillors battled at a meeting last week over the life chances of Monmouthshire’s children, with the Labour leader claiming the rich-poor divide was ‘the worst in Wales’.

Labour’s group leader, Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, claimed that children in Monmouthshire were the ‘least socially mobile’ in Wales, after a report suggested that the county has the widest attainment gap between pupils on free school meals and those not.

“The poorest students are nearly 50 per cent less likely to get good GCSEs, compared to their better off classmates,” he said.

“Every child in Monmouthshire should be encouraged to reach their full potential, regardless of income or family background.”

Figures show that just under 30 per cent of pupils in receipt of free school meals — a government marker of poverty – achieved the benchmark of five GCSEs graded at A-C. Nearly 70 per cent of Monmouthshire pupils ineligible for the meals achieve the marker, which is higher than the national average.

Councillor Batrouni explained that the attainment gap between the two groups was 41.3 per cent — the steepest in Wales.

However, Councillor Richard John, the Conservative cabinet member for education, shot down the claims as ‘misleading’, adding that Cllr Batrouni had ‘cherry-picked’ the figures.

"The report as a whole makes clear that Monmouthshire is the third best council in Wales for social mobility, while outcomes for primary school pupils from deprived backgrounds are the best in Wales,” said Mr John.

"Cllr Batrouni has cherry-picked the performance gap at GCSE where Monmouthshire is currently mid-table for outcomes for free school meals children, but top of the table for non-free school meals children, hence the variability is greatest.

“This gap is due to exceptional outcomes for non-free school meals children and volatility in Monmouthshire’s small number of students from deprived backgrounds."

"Teachers in Monmouthshire are working hard to raise standards for every child in Monmouthshire and that’s why this report concluded that Monmouthshire is one of the very best places in Wales for deprived pupils to study and climb out of poverty.”

The number of Welsh pupils obtaining the A*-C pass rates in Wales fell last year to its lowest level since 2006, after some of the biggest changes in decades to the exams system.

The A* to C pass rate fell to 62.8% after it had remained stable at 66.6% for three years.