Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 25
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 ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department recognises there are differences in how schools consider available evidence, and then the approaches they take to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children.83 The Department acknowledged that it needed to strengthen its support, beyond funding, for those schools not performing, including those needing further support to make decisions or facing high levels of poverty.84 It told us that its RISE teams, which bring together civil servants and expert advisers, would support schools where academic results suggested difficulties, or Ofsted had concerns. Support would be provided earlier than waiting for a formal departmental intervention to change leadership and governance.85 The Department said these teams would help schools make improvements based on good practice, and work alongside local authorities and academy trusts who have a role in sharing good practice.86 The Department also highlighted the extra support available to Priority Education Investment Areas, 24 local authorities with high levels of disadvantage and low levels of attainment. This included additional funding, and more schools being eligible for targeted teacher retention incentives.87 The Opportunities mission
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.