Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the implications for its policies of the publication entitled, Reaching the unseen children: Practical strategies for closing stubborn attainment gaps in disadvantaged groups; and whether he plans to take steps in response to that publication.

Enabling every child, irrespective of their background, to realise their potential at school has been at the centre of this government’s education policy since 2010. The government continues to provide schools with additional funding through the pupil premium to raise the attainment of all disadvantaged pupils, which will rise to over £2.6 billion in the 2022/23 academic year.

The department knows that disadvantaged pupils have experienced greater loss in their education as a result of the pandemic, which is why we are targeting additional recovery funding towards disadvantaged pupils. This includes a time-limited recovery premium worth over £1.3 billion for state funded schools over the 2021/22 – 2023/24 academic years. Building on the pupil premium, the recovery premium helps schools to deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery for disadvantaged pupils.

It is for school leaders to decide how to use their funding, based on the evidence of what works alongside their professional judgement. We have published guidance for school leaders on using pupil premium, which includes the ‘menu of approaches’ to help them to do this, and is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium#online-statements.

From the start of the 2022/23 academic year, schools must ensure their funding is spent in line with the menu. It is based on evidence of effective practice to ensure that spending is focussed on raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.