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Sunak’s Government Did Not Know How Schools Spent £9.2 Billion a Year Allocated to Help Disadvantaged Children

‘There has been a lack of sustained progress by government in reducing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers’, a new report by the National Audit Office has found

Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Glencraig Integrated Primary School in Northern Ireland in February 2024. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA/Alamy

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The attainment gap of the 2.1 million disadvantaged children in England’s schools has deteriorated since 2011 – despite the last Government spending £9.2 billion helping them in the past year, a report by the National Audit Office has revealed.

The report found that 60% of disadvantaged children achieved the expected reading level at the end of primary school in 2022/23 – compared with 78% for those not known to be disadvantaged.

It also found that 25% of disadvantaged pupils achieved grade five or above in English and Maths GCSEs in 2022/23 – compared with 52% for those not known to be disadvantaged.

“There has been a lack of sustained progress by government in reducing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers,” the report states. “This, coupled with not knowing the full impact of almost half of the investment spent on disadvantaged children, does not demonstrate value for money.”

The strategic priority to support disadvantaged children — and reduce the attainment gap — was a flagship policy of the Conservative Governments since 2011. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed last year that the UK was a world-beater in achieving high standards for children in school.

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“The Government has already made huge progress since 2010 to raise standards in schools and support high-quality teaching,” he said last year. “Our nine and 10-year-olds are now the best in the West at reading, ahead of other major developed economies like France, Germany and Spain. Over 88% of schools are good or outstanding, up from just 68% when this government came into office.”

The NAO report reveals that the Government has not made sustained progress in disclosing the disadvantaged gap. Progress on narrowing this gap was being made, before the pandemic, although this was staring to stall. The gap then widened given that the crisis particularly impacted disadvantaged children.

The new Government wants to encourage more skilled young people into work to boost the economy, but NAO figures show that 75% of disadvantaged 16-year-olds did not achieve grade 5 in English and Maths, which is necessary to go on to further education or obtain a good apprenticeship.

The NAO’s report suggests that better management of the £9.2 billion a year spent on disadvantaged children should make a big difference, rather than spending more money.

It discovered that the Department for Education does not even know whether schools spent the money allocated to help disadvantaged children as it is not ring-fenced and could easily have been  spent on other school provisions.

The department “does not have a systematic way to understand how schools spend this funding and therefore what works”, according to the report, and “relies on Ofsted, alongside local accountability mechanisms such as scrutiny by school governors”.

It is understood that the money could have been directed to schools which receive a pupil premium in deprived areas, where the largest proportion of disadvantaged children live.

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“Disadvantaged children’s absence from school has increased significantly, with Department for Education developing a response while continuing to build its understanding of what works,” the report states.

“Since COVID-19, school attendance has become a significant challenge, which the Department for Education rates as a major issue in its departmental risk register. Disadvantaged children are more likely to be absent from school than their peers, and more than four times more likely to be permanently excluded. “

The ministry has strong evidence that employing tutors does have a big impact on the progress of disadvantaged children – but relatively little money is spent on them.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Too many children are being held back by their background, and this report shines a light on the work that is needed to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of all children.

“We will deliver real change by integrating childcare and early years into the wider education system as a national priority, delivering free breakfast clubs in every primary school and by developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty.

“This Government is fully focused on supporting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, learning from the past and drawing from the NAO’s findings and recommendations.”


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