Pupil Premium funding will be increased to £600 per child

The Department for Education has announced this week that the funding for schools in England in 2012-13, through the Pupil Premium, will increase from £625 million in 2011-12 to £1.25 billion, further rising to £2.5 billion by 2014-15. This means that every eligible child will receive £600 instead of the current £488, which individual schools will be able to spend to improve pupils’ achievement. In addition, the eligibility for the premium will be extended to pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. It was also repeated that £50m will be allocated to support a Summer School programme to help the most disadvantaged pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school.

Representatives from teachers’ unions welcomed the increase in funding but warned that it comes against the backdrop of real-terms funding cuts in schools’ budgets. Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg also highlighted the impact of cuts on schools’ budgets and argued that the Pupil Premium lacked accountability as no guidance is provided to headteachers nor is there any provision to monitor the way it is spent.

The STF will continue to highlight the benefits of learning outside the classroom in improving attainment as part of our campaign to encourage the DfE to recommend that schools use the pupil premium to increase access to school trips for the disadvantaged.

From September 2011

This week Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced new measures to ensure fair access to high quality education. The full text of the speech can be read here.

The proposals include: measures to ensure that excluded pupils are found suitable alternative education or training; excluded pupils to remain on the performance tables for the school that excludes them; and stronger admissions policies for free schools and academies so that they will be allowed to prioritise applicants who qualify for the Pupil Premium from 2013. Clegg also urged schools to look at innovative ways in which the extra resources from the Pupil Premium could be used to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as intensive, individual tuition. He went on to state that new free schools should be established in the poorest areas, where schools are oversubscribed and they can offer the greatest benefit.