Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2014, Official Report, column 551W, on disadvantaged pupils, what research her Department has commissioned into the role of special educational needs co-ordinators in decisions on how to spend the Pupil Premium; and for what reason no guidance was issued to schools on this matter.

The Department for Education has not commissioned any research to date specifically on the role of special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) in decisions on how to spend the pupil premium, just as the Department does not advise schools in any general sense on how they should spend the pupil premium. This is because schools are best placed to understand and respond to the needs of their disadvantaged pupils, and to develop their own processes for deciding pupil premium spending priorities. Schools will of course wish to involve SENCOs in reviewing the evidence on effective practice in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils with special educational needs, and use their findings to inform spending decisions.