Recommendation 19

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 impact for disadvantaged children, such as high–quality teaching. The Education Endowment Foundation found good teachers benefited all pupils, but disadvantaged pupils more. The Department noted that spending funding on teaching aligned with the pupil premium aims, which may be more effective than individual, targeted, or smaller interventions.60 The National Association of Virtual School Heads told us that many schools were reporting using pupil premium for whole school interventions rather than supporting individual children, which the association felt was better.61 57 C&AG’s Report, para 3.2 58 C&AG’s Report, para 16, 17 59 Qq 23–24, 53; The Sutton Trust, School Funding and Pupil Premium Report 2024, 19 April 2024 60 Qq 53, 56 61 IEDO0018 14