Poorer pupils ‘may not be benefiting’ from funding given to schools to aid them

Disadvantaged children may not be benefiting from funding provided to schools to support them, MPs have said.

A report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Government has “limited understanding” of how schools are spending £9.2 billion of disadvantage-related funding.

Schools are increasingly using the pupil premium – extra funding provided to schools to support disadvantaged pupils – to plug budget gaps, MPs said.

The report warned that there is “a risk that disadvantaged children may not be benefiting” from disadvantage-related funding given to schools.

The PAC is calling on the Department for Education (DfE) to introduce “stronger and clearer” mechanisms to understand how schools spend funding, while retaining the principle of local decision–making.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the committee, said: “Autonomy for schools in this area is an important principle. However, with autonomy must come accountability.

“Our report finds that, for too many schools, the Government is not sighted on how money that ought to be spent on helping disadvantaged children overcome their circumstances is actually being used.

“In a constrained funding environment, it becomes all the more important that schools are supported to make the right choices.”

The report said it is “concerning” that in England around two million children from disadvantaged backgrounds are behind their peers academically.

In 2022/23, a quarter of disadvantaged pupils achieved grade 5 or above – which is roughly equivalent to a high grade C or low grade B – in English and maths GCSE, compared with 52% for non–disadvantaged children.

The PAC report said the recent narrowing of the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is “heading in the right direction”, but progress is “too slow and risks too many children being left behind”.

“The DfE now must make sure it is able to target funding appropriately, underpinned by the best available evidence, and taking a holistic approach in measuring success.

“No-one should be satisfied until not one of the two million children without the same advantages as their peers risk being left behind.”

Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “School leaders are doing everything they can to support disadvantaged pupils in the most effective way possible.

“They are also operating within very challenging financial circumstances.

“If the pupil premium is being used to plug budget gaps, it will be as a last resort and is symptomatic of the inadequacy of school funding overall.

“It is very important that schools retain the flexibility to use funding according to their local context.

“In order to narrow the disadvantage gap, we also need funding to be both sufficient overall and distributed in a manner that properly reflects the varying levels of disadvantage in communities across the country.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This report highlights the baked-in inequalities in our education system which we’re determined to tackle through our Plan for Change, breaking the unfair link between background and opportunity.

“Despite the fiscal black hole we inherited, we are wasting no time in taking action, increasing pupil premium as part of the wider increase in school funding to £63.9 billion next year, and delivering an unprecedented 45% increase in early years pupil premium.

“We are also delivering free breakfast clubs in every primary school, expanding our attendance mentors programme, and running our curriculum and assessment review that will tackle the obstacles that hold children back.”