Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Acknowledged
Department acknowledges schools may divert disadvantage funding but relies on accountability for good choices.
Conclusion
The Department told us that schools valued the freedom to choose how they managed their budgets but said this did not mean a lack of accountability for spending. It described understanding that schools, particularly poorer performers, may divert funding for disadvantaged children to other areas. However, it believed that setting clear expectations, through an accountability system, supported schools to make good choices.62
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and the department is reviewing options to improve reporting arrangements for the pupil premium grant, including potential digital solutions by Academic Year 2027-28.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target Implementation date: December 2027 4.2 The department is reviewing options to improve reporting arrangements for the pupil premium grant, including potential digital solutions by Academic Year 2027-28. This could support schools’ development of effective, evidence-based pupil premium strategies and provide the department with better data on how schools allocate this funding. The department is also exploring ways to automate the current data collection and analysis process to obtain better data from schools ahead of a digital solution, from Academic Year 2025-26. 4.3 Pupil premium conditions of grant and guidance for school leaders set out reporting requirements for the grant, including the requirement that schools publish an updated strategy statement by 31 December each year. Schools with more than five pupils eligible for pupil premium are required to publish a strategy statement annually on their school website, using a DfE template designed to support effective and efficient strategy development. 4.4 The department currently reviews a sample of pupil premium statements to ensure schools comply with the conditions of grant and that their planned activities align with the department’s evidence-based ‘menu of approaches’. All schools that are non-compliant are contacted by the department and asked to ensure that they publish a compliant statement. Of the schools found to be non-compliant in 2024, only 4% remained non-compliant in March 2025. 4.5 The National Tutoring Programme was designed as a time limited four-year programme to support pupils to catch up on lost learning due to the pandemic. The department invested £1 billion over its four-year life cycle, which ended on 31 August 2024. The department is collecting data on whether pupils are receiving tutoring through the school census in 2024-25.