Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2014 to Question 207080, what information her Department collects on the use of the pupil premium allocated to children with special educational needs.

The Department for Education does not collect statistics from schools about their use of pupil premium funding allocated to disadvantaged pupils, including those disadvantaged pupils with special educational needs (SEN).

In 2012, the Department commissioned an independent evaluation of the pupil premium to look at how schools were using the funding and their plans for the future. The study involved a survey and case study research in a sample of schools, including special schools. The report, which was published in July 2013 and is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-pupil-premium, includes evidence on use of the pupil premium by special schools and also by mainstream schools to support pupils with SEN.

In late 2014, the Department commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to undertake research into effective practice in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The research aims to understand what it is that successful schools do differently to make the difference. Case studies to demonstrate this will be gathered, and the analysis will include a focus on SEN. The research is due to be published later this year.

The Department also gathers information on effective practice in use of the pupil premium through the annual Pupil Premium Awards. This scheme identifies and rewards those schools which have made innovative use of the pupil premium and can demonstrate the biggest sustained improvement in the performance of disadvantaged pupils. The 2015 Awards includes a separate category for special schools and pupil referral units, with a national award of £100,000 and up to four regional awards of £50,000 for the most outstanding schools. The winners of the 2015 Awards will be announced on 25 March. Case studies of award-winning schools from the 2013 and 2014 Awards are available online at www.pupilpremiumawards.co.uk.