Recommendations & Conclusions
20 items
2
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
DfE continues to improve its evidence base for what works, but the rationale for certain funding decisions, in particular increasing core funding, does not always follow the evidence. The Department has assessed its evidence base for pupil premium effectively supporting the attainment of disadvantaged children as relatively strong compared to …
Government response. The government committed to reviewing the operation of additional-needs factors within the National Funding Formula, including their evidence base and interaction with pupil premium, to inform funding decisions for 2026-27 and beyond. It noted that 2025-26 funding rates have already …
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
Early Years funding and support remains critical for disadvantaged children to have the best start in life; it will be essential that DfE builds its evidence of what works. The value of intervening as early as possible in a child’s life is well recognised, but the Department has not reflected …
Government response. The government committed to expanding the evidence base by commissioning an independent evaluation with the EEF to monitor the impact of the 45% Early Years Pupil Premium uplift. It also outlined ongoing evaluations for Family Hubs and support for effective …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department relies on schools to spend funding in line with its intended purposes but has limited understanding of whether they do so. The Department’s policy is to allow schools and early years providers flexibility to use funding according to their local context. As such, more than 90% of the …
Government response. The government committed to exploring new digital solutions for collecting pupil premium spending data by 2027-28, with interim automation from 2025-26, and is collecting tutoring data via the school census. It also detailed existing mechanisms for monitoring schools' compliance with …
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department is relying on the ‘Opportunities Mission’ to bring together its own, and wider government’s, work to support disadvantaged children but it remains unclear how this will work in practice. The Department must work with other areas of government to support disadvantaged children, such as with the Department for …
Government response. The government agrees and is working to improve and join-up cross-government data from DWP, HMRC, and ONS, bringing metrics into a single source. Key departments are being integrated into the Mission's governance, and multi-disciplinary teams are forming to support innovation …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Education (the Department) on improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children in England.2
Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation (which was a conclusion) and outlines its existing extensive monitoring of disadvantaged children's educational outcomes through various published and internal data measures. It emphasizes its ongoing focus on narrowing the disadvantage gap via the …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
While the Department is confident in its evidence base for pupil premium it recognised the need to continue building evidence in other areas, for example early years, and on wider outcomes beyond academic attainment such as attendance and home learning.39 The Department said it was keen to have more of …
Government response. The government agrees and will continue to evaluate the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, has uplifted the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and published guidance, and will work with EEF to monitor the impact of the EYPP uplift …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
Research shows the value of early years provision in supporting the attainment of disadvantaged children. From the age of three, there is a gap in cognitive outcomes between disadvantaged children and their peers, and in 2018 the Education Policy Institute reported that, on average, disadvantaged children were 4.3 months behind …
Government response. The government will continue to evaluate the rollout of Family Hubs and Start for Life services and has increased the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) to up to £570 per eligible child per year, providing guidance to local authorities to …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
Despite the recognised value, in 2024–25 the maximum pupil premium annual rate per pupil in the early years (age 3–4) was £388, compared to £1,480 for primary school pupils and £1,050 for those at secondary school. The Department has not done any analysis to explain these funding differences.44 However, it …
Government response. The government announced a 45% uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP), increasing it to £570 per eligible child per year and published guidance to support local authorities in ensuring spend is used effectively, and will work with EEF …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department is currently extending early years entitlements so that, by September 2025, eligible working parents with a child aged nine months and above will be entitled to 30 hours of early years childcare a week.48 The Department acknowledged the new entitlements focused on working families, but did not agree …
Government response. The government will continue to evaluate the rollout of Family Hubs and Start for Life services and has increased the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) to up to £570 per eligible child per year, providing guidance to local authorities to …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department told us that its childcare policy aimed to support child development and school readiness, alongside enabling parents to work, with supporting parents at home an important element.51 ‘Family hubs’, funded jointly with the Department for Health and Social Care, will be targeted in disadvantaged areas and aim to …
Government response. The government announced a 45% uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP), increasing it to £570 per eligible child per year and published guidance to support local authorities in ensuring spend is used effectively, and will work with EEF …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department’s policy is to allow schools and other providers autonomy and flexibility to support disadvantaged children in a way that suits local circumstances and their pupils’ needs. More than 90% of the estimated £9.2 billion funding associated with disadvantage is not “ringfenced”. Schools can choose how to spend this …
Government response. The department is reviewing options to improve reporting arrangements for the pupil premium grant, including potential digital solutions by Academic Year 2027-28, and is exploring ways to automate the current data collection and analysis process from Academic Year 2025-26.
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
We challenged the Department on Sutton Trust research from 2024 which found 47% of senior school leaders surveyed were using pupil premium to plug gaps in their budget, up from 23% in 2019.59 The Department said school leaders could still be using this funding on areas that have a good …
Government response. The government agrees and is reviewing options to improve reporting arrangements for the pupil premium grant by Academic Year 2027-28, and explore ways to automate the current data collection from Academic Year 2025-26.
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department does not know how much schools spend on tutoring despite having strong evidence of its value, as it no–longer provides specific funding. With the National Tutoring Programme not continuing into 2024/25, schools must decide whether to fund this themselves.66 The Department explained that it had planned for the …
Government response. The department is reviewing options to improve reporting arrangements for the pupil premium grant, including potential digital solutions by Academic Year 2027-28, and is exploring ways to automate the current data collection and analysis process from Academic Year 2025-26.
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department stressed to us the importance of schools and other providers being able to spend funding effectively.74 The Department has expanded the support provided to schools to help them decide how to spend pupil premium funding. This includes signposting schools to the work of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), …
Government response. The department supports effective evidence-based decision making through grant funding of the EEF, promoting the EEF’s evidence to frontline decision makers, and monitoring how schools use evidence of what works in developing their pupil premium strategies, working with the EEF …
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department told us it monitors how well school leaders use pupil premium evidence, with 69% of school leaders saying they used EEF resources in its most recent survey.79 It believed this may be understated, as a higher proportion of the pupil premium statements it reviewed linked back to EEF …
Government response. The department supports effective evidence-based decision making through grant funding of the EEF, promoting the EEF’s evidence to frontline decision makers, and monitoring how schools use evidence of what works in developing their pupil premium strategies, working with the EEF …
HM Treasury
25
Recommendation
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department recognises there are differences in how schools consider available evidence, and then the approaches they take to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children.83 The Department acknowledged that it needed to strengthen its support, beyond funding, for those schools not performing, including those needing further support to make decisions or …
Government response. The department supports effective evidence-based decision making through grant funding of the EEF, promoting the EEF’s evidence to frontline decision makers, and monitoring how schools use evidence of what works in developing their pupil premium strategies, working with the EEF …
HM Treasury
26
Recommendation
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department recognises the importance of cross–government working to improving outcomes for disadvantaged children, as a wide range of factors outside school influence children’s attainment. This includes housing, health and socio–economic deprivation. It described working across government, including through a critical partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) …
Government response. The department is working across government to deliver the Opportunity Mission, aiming for 75% of children reaching a good level of development at age 5 by 2028 and linking parental income data and outcomes for children.
HM Treasury
27
Recommendation
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
Looking ahead, the Department explained that its forward plan and strategy for supporting disadvantaged children would be focussed around government’s mission to “Break down barriers to opportunity.” 92 The Department explained that this is summarised in the government’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024.93 This “mission–led” approach would also …
Government response. The department is working across government to deliver the Opportunity Mission, aiming for 75% of children reaching a good level of development at age 5 by 2028 and linking parental income data and outcomes for children.
HM Treasury
28
Recommendation
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
The Department explained how single shared priorities also helped evaluate programmes objectively but acknowledged it would like to go further through joining up data and information, which the Opportunities mission could help give impetus to. It said it had made some progress, but felt that there was more to do …
Government response. The department is working across government to deliver the Opportunity Mission, aiming for 75% of children to reach a good level of development at age 5 by 2028; cross-government data work is underway, and outcome metrics are being tracked to …
HM Treasury
29
Recommendation
13th Report - Improving educational out…
Accepted
Alongside better cross–government working, the Department believed a mission–led approach would benefit its own strategic thinking, with the opportunities mission now forming the organising principle for its work.96 The Department told us it is already beginning to see an impact through how it prioritises work, with early years now a …
Government response. The department is working across government to deliver the Opportunity Mission, aiming for 75% of children reaching a good level of development at age 5 by 2028 and linking parental income data and outcomes for children.
HM Treasury