Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have provided to target educational underachievement in each of the last five years.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The great majority of school funding in England is allocated through the National Funding Formula (NFF).

The NFF allocates 17.4% of all funding in 2022/23 through additional needs factors to target pupils most likely to fall behind and need extra support. Alongside the NFF, the Pupil Premium provides additional funding to help schools tackle educational underachievement by children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The total funding directed through the NFF’s additional needs factors and through the Pupil Premium over the last five years is shown in the attached table.

Within the figures attached, the low prior attainment factor (LPA) in the NFF specifically targets pupils who did not reach the expected standard at the previous stage. The table attached also shows the amount of funding provided to schools in England through the LPA factor in the schools NFF over the last five years.

The department is also focusing on recovering from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic through an ambitious multi-year programme and has made available almost £5 billion for recovery since 2020.