Pupil premium
The pupil premium is a fund given by the government to schools in England and Wales to decrease the attainment gap for the most statistically disadvantaged children, whether by income or by family upheaval. For each pupil who is eligible for free school meals, their school receives £1,300 (if a primary school) or £935 (if a secondary school).[1]
Schools receive an extra premium of £1,900 for pupils:
- in local authority care
- adopted from care (and the parent self-declares)
- were in care in the last year, which ceased by virtue of a special guardianship order (and the guardian self-declares),[2] residence order or Child Arrangement Order.[1] In the academic year 2015–2016 the premium for primary schools will increase to £1,320.[1]
The pupil premium was introduced in 2011 by the Conservative—Liberal Democrat coalition government.
Audit
Schools in receipt of pupil premium are required to account for its use, with specific reference to how it helps disadvantaged pupils, as part of the OFSTED inspection regime.[1] The government recommend that schools conduct independent pupil premium reviews.[3]
Effectiveness
The think tank Demos published an analysis. Since 2011, as to free school meals-eligible pupils, which number has grown significantly, the attainment gap has widened, whereas it has narrowed for those in local authority care. It noted the number of free school meal-eligible pupils who achieved 5 GCSEs (including English and Maths) at grades A*-C was 33.7%, compared to 60.7% for non-eligible students (as at the first-round Summer 2014 results); lower relative attainment by 27 percent of such students. It added the gap widened by 0.3% since 2013.[4] This follows a similar widening in its previous report. However it noted in the same period overall attainment has increased significantly.[5]
The Department for Education has disputed Demos' analysis, its spokesman stating: "It is nonsense to say that the attainment gap is widening. The 2014 results – when analysed with our more informative and accurate measure – show the gap has narrowed by almost 4 per cent since 2012, the year after the pupil premium was introduced."[4]
References
- ^ a b c d "Pupil premium: funding for schools and alternative provision". Gov.uk. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Background: Children Looked After School Circular. Accessed 2015-04-23.
- ^ "Pupil premium reviews". Gov.uk. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ a b Exley, Stephen (4 February 2015). "Pupil premium 'has failed to close attainment gap', thinktank claims". Times Educational Supplement. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Watt, Nicholas (28 January 2014). "Pupil premium struggling to close GCSE attainment gap". Retrieved 10 February 2015.