Child Poverty

Baroness Eaton Excerpts

Monday 8th December 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Eaton (Con)]

Can my noble friend outline what measures the Government have enacted to improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children?

[Lord Nash]

It is true that this Government have done a huge amount for disadvantaged children: the pupil premium, reforms to the curriculum, reforms to the exams and making sure that particularly disadvantaged pupils have that core cultural knowledge that is so essential, as has been acknowledged by many, including the Labour MP Diane Abbott. As we know, the number of pupils who got that core cultural knowledge under the previous Government fell from 50% to 22%. Thanks to our reforms, it is now up to 40%. Some 800,000 more children are being educated in good and outstanding schools than in 2010, and Ofsted tells us that our school system is in the best shape ever.