Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to close the deprivation attainment gap in (a) Lewisham borough and (b) London.

The department recognises that children from poorer backgrounds may face additional challenges to realising their academic potential. £13 billion has been spent since 2011, with almost £2.5 billion this year alone, through the pupil premium to provide schools with extra resources to overcome barriers to learning that children from disadvantaged backgrounds can face. Since 2011 the attainment gap in England, as measured by the Attainment Gap Index, has narrowed by 10% at ages 11 and 16.

Over 14,000 Lewisham pupils are eligible for support and last year their schools received more than £17 million through the pupil premium. In London over 373,000 pupils attracted the pupil premium, bringing an additional £437 million to their schools.

The department expects schools to use this extra funding effectively. Research indicates a personalised approach, based on proven effective practice, often narrows gaps through improved results. Support has been developed for school leaders in their decision-making; guidance published by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and the on-line resources maintained by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) have been commissioned and the department has highlighted examples of effective practice through our national Pupil Premium Awards. The NFER guidance is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-the-attainment-of-disadvantaged-pupils.

The EEFs on-line resources can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-the-attainment-of-disadvantaged-pupils.