Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has conducted a comparative analysis of the per-pupil funding allocated to disadvantaged students in (a) Key Stage 4 and (b) 16 to 19 education; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of funding differentials on the attainment of young people from low-income backgrounds.

The national funding formula (NFF) for school pupils up to age 16 reflects additional needs of pupils, including economic disadvantage, low prior attainment, English as an additional language and pupil mobility. In the 2026/27 academic year, £5.6 billion (11.0%) of the NFF has been allocated according to “deprivation” factors reflecting economic disadvantage and £9.2 billion (18.1%) has been allocated for additional needs overall. In addition to funding through the NFF, schools also receive pupil premium funding for disadvantaged pupils.

Disadvantage funding for 16 to 19 year-old students is provided linked to students’ economic deprivation and low prior attainment. We also allocate English and maths funding to support students aged 16 to 19 who have not achieved a GCSE grade 4 or above in English and maths. In total, 16 to 19 disadvantage and English and maths funding came to £1 billion in the 2025/26 academic year allocations, or 12% of total programme funding.