Pupil premium 'should be targeted on primary schools'

19 Jun 13
Planned increases in the pupil premium should be focused on primary schools to ensure resources are targeted where they are most needed, the Institute for Public Policy Research said today.

By Vivienne Russell | 19 June 2013

Planned increases in the pupil premium should be focused on primary schools to ensure resources are targeted where they are most needed, the Institute for Public Policy Research said today.

The premium is a funding top-up schools receive to increase the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, including those in care and in receipt of free school meals. The government is increasing the available sums by £1.25bn over the next two years.

But in a selection of essays published today, Excellence and equity: tackling educational disadvantage in England's Secondary Schools, the IPPR said there were several problems with the current arrangements. For the majority of schools, the pupil premium did not represent new money and its impact would be offset by cuts in their main budgets.

Failure to ring-fence the pupil premium also meant schools could face pressure to spend it on other things. In addition, many pupils who fell behind academically did not come from disadvantaged households and therefore did not attract extra funding for their school.

The scheme would be more effective if future funds were targeted at primary schools, the IPPR said. Pupil premium funding in secondary schools should be held at current levels. Children at most risk of falling behind at secondary school were those who left primary school without having reached sufficient standards in reading and writing.

Jonathan Clifton, senior research fellow at the IPPR and author of the essay, Getting the most out of the pupil premium, said: ‘The pupil premium is a good idea. But the key to narrowing the achievement gap is high-quality literacy and numeracy interventions that are targeted towards pupils who are falling behind in primary and early secondary school.’

He added: ‘There are reports today that the Department for Education may be asked to make £2bn of spending cuts after this month’s Spending Review. It is important that scarce resources are targeted where they will be most effective, and that is boosting reading skills in primary schools.’

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