13th Report - Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children

Early Years funding and support remains critical for disadvantaged children to have the best start in life; it will be essential that DfE builds its evidence of what works. The value of intervening as early as possible in a child’s … Read more Early Years funding and support remains critical for disadvantaged children to have the best start in life; it will be essential that DfE builds its evidence of what works. The value of intervening as early as possible in a child’s life is well recognised, but the Department has not reflected this in its funding even after increasing Early Years Pupil Premium by 45% for 2025–26. Previously, in 2024–25 the maximum early years pupil premium for a 3–or 4–year–old was £388, compared to £1,480 for primary school child, with the Department unable to provide a clear rationale for these differences. The Department recognises it needs to continue revisiting funding and stressed the value of evidence in doing so. However, it can take a long time to generate evidence of the longer–term impact of early years interventions. For example, the best evidence for the impact of Sure Start Centres, on later academic attainment has only recently been published. The Department will need to think about how it will collect evidence on the impact of Family Hubs support for families in disadvantaged areas, including in the early years, although they have not been in place long. recommendation The Department should prioritise expanding its evidence base on the effectiveness of early years interventions, including the role of Family Hubs, and in 12 months update the Committee on the impact of its decisions to increase Early Years Pupil Premium in 2025–26. In doing so, it should set out how its approach to developing evidence and then making funding decisions will align going forwards. 4 Show less

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The Department is relying on the ‘Opportunities Mission’ to bring together its own, and wider government’s, work to support disadvantaged children but it remains unclear how this will work in practice. The Department must work with other areas of government … Read more The Department is relying on the ‘Opportunities Mission’ to bring together its own, and wider government’s, work to support disadvantaged children but it remains unclear how this will work in practice. The Department must work with other areas of government to support disadvantaged children, such as with the Department for Work and Pensions as part of the Child Poverty Task Force. However, cross–government working has previously been challenging, in part because other parts of government may not place as high a priority on disadvantage as the Department. The Department is developing its strategy for narrowing the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers around the government’s mission “Breaking down the barriers to opportunity”, which also provides a chance to revisit how it works with others across government, particularly though shared data which is where the Department sees most scope for improvement. The Government’s Plan for Change, setting out details of its missions, was published in December 2024, meaning it is still too early to see any changes to ways of working. recommendation The Department should set out how it will use the opportunities mission to further join–up data and performance information, and embed the cultural changes needed for effective cross–government working. 6 1 Understanding of progress, impact and decision–making Introduction Show less

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In terms of accountability for pupil premium, the Department described schools needing to clearly report how they used funding so governors could use this to provide challenge.63 All schools must publish an up–to–date pupil premium strategy statement setting out their … Read more In terms of accountability for pupil premium, the Department described schools needing to clearly report how they used funding so governors could use this to provide challenge.63 All schools must publish an up–to–date pupil premium strategy statement setting out their spending plans. The Department acknowledged that its data showed that not all schools were complying. In 2023, only 80% of schools sampled had published a 2022–23 pupil premium statement.64 The Department said it had followed up with those who had not published a statement, and they should now be updating and publishing their statements. However, as checks were completed on a sample basis it could not commit to following up with all those not complying.65 Show less

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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 … Read more 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 Show less

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The Department recognises the importance of cross–government working to improving outcomes for disadvantaged children, as a wide range of factors outside school influence children’s attainment. This includes housing, health and socio–economic deprivation. It described working across government, including through a … Read more The Department recognises the importance of cross–government working to improving outcomes for disadvantaged children, as a wide range of factors outside school influence children’s attainment. This includes housing, health and socio–economic deprivation. It described working across government, including through a critical partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the Child Poverty Taskforce.88 However the Department also recognised that cross–government working is more challenging where, as has been the case, departments do not have a shared aim bringing together their work.89 The Department explained that departments talk to each other, but in having different priorities, it can be challenging to get things done.90 The previous Public Accounts Committee has recognised the value of cross government working to the successful delivery of many government policies and programmes, with a common purpose and shared vision a crucial factor.91 83 Q 9 84 Q 38 85 Qq 30, 39, 40 86 Q 41 87 Q 39 88 Q 34 89 Q34; C&AG’s Report, para 9, 1.18–1.20 90 Q 34 91 Committee of Public Accounts, Cross-Government Working, Twelfth report of session 2023–24, HC 75, 13 February 2024 17 Show less

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Looking ahead, the Department explained that its forward plan and strategy for supporting disadvantaged children would be focussed around government’s mission to “Break down barriers to opportunity.” 92 The Department explained that this is summarised in the government’s Plan for … Read more Looking ahead, the Department explained that its forward plan and strategy for supporting disadvantaged children would be focussed around government’s mission to “Break down barriers to opportunity.” 92 The Department explained that this is summarised in the government’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024.93 This “mission–led” approach would also improve cross–government working by allowing and encouraging the Department to think holistically across the system, using evidence of what works across different areas, such as with analysis on housing, child poverty and health. The Department also felt the Opportunities mission would create a single shared aim for government to work towards. The benefits were already being seen in the joint Child Poverty Taskforce and closer working with the Department for Health and Social Care on the “best start for life” element of the Opportunities mission, and family hub support.94 Show less

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The Department explained how single shared priorities also helped evaluate programmes objectively but acknowledged it would like to go further through joining up data and information, which the Opportunities mission could help give impetus to. It said it had made … Read more The Department explained how single shared priorities also helped evaluate programmes objectively but acknowledged it would like to go further through joining up data and information, which the Opportunities mission could help give impetus to. It said it had made some progress, but felt that there was more to do to, for example, better sharing of data between education, health and justice which continued to be a particular challenge.95 Show less

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Alongside better cross–government working, the Department believed a mission–led approach would benefit its own strategic thinking, with the opportunities mission now forming the organising principle for its work.96 The Department told us it is already beginning to see an impact … Read more Alongside better cross–government working, the Department believed a mission–led approach would benefit its own strategic thinking, with the opportunities mission now forming the organising principle for its work.96 The Department told us it is already beginning to see an impact through how it prioritises work, with early years now a greater priority in line with the government’s Plan for Change on the best start in life.97 In providing a clear organising structure, the Department believed the mission would also lead to improved decisions on business planning and allocating resources.98 92 Prime Minister’s Office, Break Down Barriers to Opportunity, 93 Q 31; HM Government, Plan for Change, 5 December 2024 94 Q 34 95 Q 35 96 Q 31 97 Q 31 98 Q 31 18 Show less

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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 …

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The Department relies on schools to spend funding in line with its intended purposes but has limited understanding of whether they do so. The Department’s policy is to allow schools and early years providers flexibility to use funding according to their local context. As such, more than 90% of the …

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The Department supports schools in making effective local decisions, but there remains variability in practice, performance and how schools use evidence. The Department provides support to schools and other providers to help them effectively target their funding for disadvantaged children. This support includes a menu of evidence–based approaches for Pupil …

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On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Education (the Department) on improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children in England.2

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The Department told us that, compared to other countries, England performs relatively well in terms of disadvantaged children’s attainment.13 The OECD recently cited the UK as one of 10 highly equitable countries, meaning that the difference in maths, science and reading results that could be explained by socioeconomic status was …

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The Department compares the attainment of disadvantaged pupils against their peers nationally through the disadvantage gap index, its main measure of progress.17 The Department explained that its most recent data shows this gap narrowed marginally in the last two years for children leaving primary school at key stage 2 (from …

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Registration for free school meals is not automatic and some low– income pupils will be missed due to eligibility criteria. This means it is imperfect as a measure of disadvantage. The Department stressed the importance of using wider measures beyond the disadvantage gap index to understand performance. This included considering …

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The Department considers it has better evidence of pupil premium effectively supporting disadvantaged children, assessing this evidence as strong, compared to that available for the disadvantage and deprivation elements of the national funding formula.27 Despite this, there has been a 3% real–terms reduction in pupil premium funding over the period …

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The Department committed to keeping the balance of funding across different interventions under review.32 It told us that pupil premium and the disadvantage elements of the national funding formula should be considered together–with pupil premium being specifically directed towards disadvantaged children, and the funding formula using disadvantage as a proxy …

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The Department stressed that, without an unlimited budget, it would always need to make trade–offs in its funding decisions.35 It told us it is firstly aiming to increase the proportion of funding targeted towards disadvantage, as it believes this has a greater marginal impact on outcomes for disadvantaged children.36 Secondly, …

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While the Department is confident in its evidence base for pupil premium it recognised the need to continue building evidence in other areas, for example early years, and on wider outcomes beyond academic attainment such as attendance and home learning.39 The Department said it was keen to have more of …

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Research shows the value of early years provision in supporting the attainment of disadvantaged children. From the age of three, there is a gap in cognitive outcomes between disadvantaged children and their peers, and in 2018 the Education Policy Institute reported that, on average, disadvantaged children were 4.3 months behind …

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Despite the recognised value, in 2024–25 the maximum pupil premium annual rate per pupil in the early years (age 3–4) was £388, compared to £1,480 for primary school pupils and £1,050 for those at secondary school. The Department has not done any analysis to explain these funding differences.44 However, it …

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The Department is currently extending early years entitlements so that, by September 2025, eligible working parents with a child aged nine months and above will be entitled to 30 hours of early years childcare a week.48 The Department acknowledged the new entitlements focused on working families, but did not agree …

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The Department told us that its childcare policy aimed to support child development and school readiness, alongside enabling parents to work, with supporting parents at home an important element.51 ‘Family hubs’, funded jointly with the Department for Health and Social Care, will be targeted in disadvantaged areas and aim to …

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The Department’s policy is to allow schools and other providers autonomy and flexibility to support disadvantaged children in a way that suits local circumstances and their pupils’ needs. More than 90% of the estimated £9.2 billion funding associated with disadvantage is not “ringfenced”. Schools can choose how to spend this …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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The Department stressed to us the importance of schools and other providers being able to spend funding effectively.74 The Department has expanded the support provided to schools to help them decide how to spend pupil premium funding. This includes signposting schools to the work of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), …

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The Department told us it monitors how well school leaders use pupil premium evidence, with 69% of school leaders saying they used EEF resources in its most recent survey.79 It believed this may be understated, as a higher proportion of the pupil premium statements it reviewed linked back to EEF …

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