Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 22
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)
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 programme to last four years (to 2024/25) to address learning lost during the COVID–19 pandemic, with tutoring then being covered by mainstream funding.67 The Department expected many schools would want to continue tutoring, building on the clear benefits from upskilling staff and creating trained tutors, which could be funded through pupil premium.68 The Department told us this had been reflected in its updated pupil premium guidance and the “menu of evidence” available to schools to help them decide how to spend this funding.69 It explained that schools should follow their evidence as tutoring may not be the best approach for all children.70 The Department’s risk register has identified the need to promote the benefits of using pupil premium to fund 62 Qq 24, 54 63 Qq 24, 53 64 C&AG’s Report, para 17, Q55 65 Qq 57–58 66 C&AG’s Report, para 15 67 Q 23 68 Qq 23, 24, 29 69 Qq 23, 24 70 Q 29 15 tutoring.71 It has committed to tracking its use and impact going forward.72 We heard from various stakeholders about the value of a national tutoring programme.73 Supporting decisions in schools
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.