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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children

Status: Closed Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 16 May 2025 8 recommendations 21 conclusions 1 report

The attainment gap sees disadvantaged children, on average, perform less well than their peers, affecting their future life chances. Government has a strategic objective to narrow the gap. The Department for Education (DfE) defines 2.1 million, or 27%, of children in state-funded schools as disadvantaged, based on registered eligibility for free school meals, or if …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
13th Report - Improving educational outcomes for disadvanta… HC 365 7 Mar 2025 29 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
7 Conclusion 13th Report - Improving educational out… Rejected

England demonstrates strong relative performance in disadvantaged children's educational attainment internationally.

The Department told us that, compared to other countries, England performs relatively well in terms of disadvantaged children’s attainment.13 The OECD recently cited the UK as one of 10 highly equitable countries, meaning that the difference in maths, science and reading results that could be explained by socioeconomic status was …

Government response. The government disagrees with the Committee's conclusion, stating that the Department for Education strongly agrees too many children are held back by their background, and reiterates its commitment to the Opportunity Mission.
HM Treasury
8 Conclusion 13th Report - Improving educational out… Rejected

Disadvantage gap index marginally narrowing, but not fast enough and lacks granular detail

The Department compares the attainment of disadvantaged pupils against their peers nationally through the disadvantage gap index, its main measure of progress.17 The Department explained that its most recent data shows this gap narrowed marginally in the last two years for children leaving primary school at key stage 2 (from …

Government response. The government disagrees with the Committee's conclusion, stating that the Department for Education strongly agrees too many children are held back by their background, and reiterates its commitment to the Opportunity Mission.
HM Treasury
9 Conclusion 13th Report - Improving educational out… Rejected

Imperfect free school meals measure limits data and analysis on wider pupil outcomes

Registration for free school meals is not automatic and some low– income pupils will be missed due to eligibility criteria. This means it is imperfect as a measure of disadvantage. The Department stressed the importance of using wider measures beyond the disadvantage gap index to understand performance. This included considering …

Government response. The government disagrees with the Committee's conclusion, stating that the Department for Education strongly agrees too many children are held back by their background, and reiterates its commitment to the Opportunity Mission.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
13 Jan 2025 Juliet Chua CB · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Susan Acland-Hood · The Department for Education, Tony Foot · Department for Education View ↗

Correspondence

1 letter
DateDirectionTitle
4 Feb 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education relating to…