Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 2
13th Report - Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children
Published 7 Mar 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
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 3 other interventions. However, over the period 2018–19 to 2023–24 this funding has not risen in line with inflation, decreasing by 3% in real terms with a 9% real–terms reduction in per–pupil funding. By contrast, evidence is less strong on the impact of the disadvantage and deprivation related funding provided through the National Funding Formula (the core funding)– but the Department has increased it by 10% in real terms over the same period. The Department ‘s rationale for these decisions is not clear. The Department accepts it needs to develop its evidence base for interventions beyond pupil premium, to help support its decisions on where to target funding to best effect. recommendation Whilst continuing to build an understanding of what works, DfE should re–assess the evidence base for funding decisions and, as part of this, set out its funding priorities for 2025–26, including where pupil premium falls within this.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 13th Report - Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children (HC 365), 7 March 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirteenth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirteenth report from Session 2024-25
Published 16 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government disagrees with the Committee's recommendation on setting out gap-narrowing targets and agrees with its recommendations on funding evidence, early years evidence, school spending data, support for evidence-based decisions and the Opportunity Mission.
- On setting three, five and ten year gap-narrowing goals, the government disagrees, stating that "Impact will be measured through attainment at the end of secondary school" and that progress is "already closely monitored" through published data.
- It agrees to re-assess the evidence for funding decisions, with a target date of September 2025. A review of the schools national funding formula "will inform decisions on the NFF and pupil premium for 2026-27" onwards.
- On school spending data, it agrees (target December 2027) and is "reviewing options" to improve pupil premium reporting, including "potential digital solutions by Academic Year 2027-28".
- On early years evidence, it agrees (target April 2026) and says it will work with the Education Endowment Foundation to monitor the impact of the Early Years Pupil Premium uplift through an independent evaluation.