Department for Education

There are no plans to change the scope of the Turing Scheme, including the sectors in which it operates. The Turing Scheme is global by design and has supported placements in over 160 countries. The Turing Scheme already provides inclusion support through extra funding for students with special educational needs and disabilities, additional support needs (in Scotland) and additional learning needs (in Wales). The government keeps the scope of the Turing Scheme under review, and decisions on the Turing Scheme for future years will be shared in due course.

Our association to Erasmus+ will open up opportunities for learners, educators, young people and communities. It is an investment in opportunity for our young people, our workforce and our future, opening doors for tens of thousands across the UK.

There are no plans to change the scope of the Turing Scheme, including the sectors in which it operates. The Turing Scheme is global by design and has supported placements in over 160 countries. The Turing Scheme already provides inclusion support through extra funding for students with special educational needs and disabilities, additional support needs (in Scotland) and additional learning needs (in Wales). The government keeps the scope of the Turing Scheme under review, and decisions on the Turing Scheme for future years will be shared in due course.

Our association to Erasmus+ will open up opportunities for learners, educators, young people and communities. It is an investment in opportunity for our young people, our workforce and our future, opening doors for tens of thousands across the UK.

There are no plans to change the scope of the Turing Scheme, including the sectors in which it operates. The Turing Scheme is global by design and has supported placements in over 160 countries. The Turing Scheme already provides inclusion support through extra funding for students with special educational needs and disabilities, additional support needs (in Scotland) and additional learning needs (in Wales). The government keeps the scope of the Turing Scheme under review, and decisions on the Turing Scheme for future years will be shared in due course.

Our association to Erasmus+ will open up opportunities for learners, educators, young people and communities. It is an investment in opportunity for our young people, our workforce and our future, opening doors for tens of thousands across the UK.

There are no plans to change the scope of the Turing Scheme, including the sectors in which it operates. The Turing Scheme is global by design and has supported placements in over 160 countries. The Turing Scheme already provides inclusion support through extra funding for students with special educational needs and disabilities, additional support needs (in Scotland) and additional learning needs (in Wales). The government keeps the scope of the Turing Scheme under review, and decisions on the Turing Scheme for future years will be shared in due course.

Our association to Erasmus+ will open up opportunities for learners, educators, young people and communities. It is an investment in opportunity for our young people, our workforce and our future, opening doors for tens of thousands across the UK.

The Further Education Outcomes statistics publication provides data on the progression from further education courses to sustained employment in the following academic year. It is published annually each November, with the most recent edition available at:

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-outcomes/2022-23#explore-data-and-files.

Note this does not show the logistics sector specifically or assess the impact of funded qualifications on employment rates.

The document referred to is a proposal and is not currently law.

The UK will be utilising EU funds, and so EU legislation relating to their use may apply in certain circumstances.

Statutory tests and assessments at primary school help measure the attainment of pupils in relation to the standards set out in the national curriculum and help teachers and parents identify where pupils may need additional support in a certain subject area.

The key stage 2 tests are subject to robust test development processes, which include reviews involving serving teachers and experts in special educational needs (SEN) and trials with hundreds of Year 6 pupils. Children with SEN have a range of needs and abilities, and it is important they are able to participate in assessments to demonstrate their achievements. Schools are able to utilise a range of access arrangements where appropriate, while for any children with SEN and others who are working below the standards of the national curriculum assessments there are alternative teacher assessments.

Primary assessments were reviewed as part of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, led by Professor Becky Francis. The review panel, which included an expert in SEN, published their final report in November, concluding that the primary assessment system is generally working well and that the assessments are important for evaluating pupils’ progress.

Statutory tests and assessments at primary school help measure the attainment of pupils in relation to the standards set out in the national curriculum and help teachers and parents identify where pupils may need additional support in a certain subject area.

The key stage 2 tests are subject to robust test development processes, which include reviews involving serving teachers and experts in special educational needs (SEN) and trials with hundreds of Year 6 pupils. Children with SEN have a range of needs and abilities, and it is important they are able to participate in assessments to demonstrate their achievements. Schools are able to utilise a range of access arrangements where appropriate, while for any children with SEN and others who are working below the standards of the national curriculum assessments there are alternative teacher assessments.

Primary assessments were reviewed as part of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, led by Professor Becky Francis. The review panel, which included an expert in SEN, published their final report in November, concluding that the primary assessment system is generally working well and that the assessments are important for evaluating pupils’ progress.

The tables attached reflect median pay for classroom teachers, headteachers and ‘other leadership’ teachers. Deputy heads are grouped into the ‘other leadership’ category, alongside assistant heads. Median pay is not published for deputy heads separately but has been produced for this response and included.

Statistics for median teacher pay extending back to 1996/97 are not readily available. The available time series goes back to 2010/11, the first year of the School Workforce Census.

These figures are adjusted for inflation by using the Consumer Price Index from Office for Budget Responsibility Economic and Fiscal Outlook from March 2026, on a financial year basis.

Headteacher pay in maintained schools is determined by a calculation set out in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. Once the school has been allocated to one of eight headteacher groups, largely based on size of school by pupil numbers, the individual salary range of the headteacher is determined by the governing body within the minimum and maximum of the respective headteacher group range. The salary range of any deputy or assistant headteachers is then determined in the context of the headteachers salary.

In exceptional circumstances, schools can pay their headteachers up to 25% above the maximum of their headteacher group or go beyond 25% if supported by an independently-assessed and approved business case.

The tables attached reflect median pay for classroom teachers, headteachers and ‘other leadership’ teachers. Deputy heads are grouped into the ‘other leadership’ category, alongside assistant heads. Median pay is not published for deputy heads separately but has been produced for this response and included.

Statistics for median teacher pay extending back to 1996/97 are not readily available. The available time series goes back to 2010/11, the first year of the School Workforce Census.

These figures are adjusted for inflation by using the Consumer Price Index from Office for Budget Responsibility Economic and Fiscal Outlook from March 2026, on a financial year basis.

Headteacher pay in maintained schools is determined by a calculation set out in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. Once the school has been allocated to one of eight headteacher groups, largely based on size of school by pupil numbers, the individual salary range of the headteacher is determined by the governing body within the minimum and maximum of the respective headteacher group range. The salary range of any deputy or assistant headteachers is then determined in the context of the headteachers salary.

In exceptional circumstances, schools can pay their headteachers up to 25% above the maximum of their headteacher group or go beyond 25% if supported by an independently-assessed and approved business case.

The tables attached reflect median pay for classroom teachers, headteachers and ‘other leadership’ teachers. Deputy heads are grouped into the ‘other leadership’ category, alongside assistant heads. Median pay is not published for deputy heads separately but has been produced for this response and included.

Statistics for median teacher pay extending back to 1996/97 are not readily available. The available time series goes back to 2010/11, the first year of the School Workforce Census.

These figures are adjusted for inflation by using the Consumer Price Index from Office for Budget Responsibility Economic and Fiscal Outlook from March 2026, on a financial year basis.

Headteacher pay in maintained schools is determined by a calculation set out in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. Once the school has been allocated to one of eight headteacher groups, largely based on size of school by pupil numbers, the individual salary range of the headteacher is determined by the governing body within the minimum and maximum of the respective headteacher group range. The salary range of any deputy or assistant headteachers is then determined in the context of the headteachers salary.

In exceptional circumstances, schools can pay their headteachers up to 25% above the maximum of their headteacher group or go beyond 25% if supported by an independently-assessed and approved business case.

The tables attached reflect median pay for classroom teachers, headteachers and ‘other leadership’ teachers. Deputy heads are grouped into the ‘other leadership’ category, alongside assistant heads. Median pay is not published for deputy heads separately but has been produced for this response and included.

Statistics for median teacher pay extending back to 1996/97 are not readily available. The available time series goes back to 2010/11, the first year of the School Workforce Census.

These figures are adjusted for inflation by using the Consumer Price Index from Office for Budget Responsibility Economic and Fiscal Outlook from March 2026, on a financial year basis.

Headteacher pay in maintained schools is determined by a calculation set out in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. Once the school has been allocated to one of eight headteacher groups, largely based on size of school by pupil numbers, the individual salary range of the headteacher is determined by the governing body within the minimum and maximum of the respective headteacher group range. The salary range of any deputy or assistant headteachers is then determined in the context of the headteachers salary.

In exceptional circumstances, schools can pay their headteachers up to 25% above the maximum of their headteacher group or go beyond 25% if supported by an independently-assessed and approved business case.

Data shows that a significant Attainment 8 gap between selective grammar schools in Gloucester and non-selective schools, with a 30+ point gap between the highest (Denmark Road, 72.9) and lowest scoring (Gloucester Academy, 36.6) schools. Grammar schools drive the locally authority average (50.3 compared to the national average of 46). Schools with lower attainment 8 scores serve more disadvantaged populations locally.

Overall secondary attendance trend in the Gloucester constituency is improving, increasing from 90.4% in 2023/24 to 90.9%, in 2024/25. Note the national average is 90.9% and local authority average is 91.5%.

Overall, Ofsted ratings demonstrate an improvement trend in schools in Gloucester. Holmleigh Park and Gloucester Academy have improved from an ‘Inadequate’ Ofsted judgement, to ‘Good’. The department continues to work closely with local partners to closely monitor this continuing trend of improvement.

To achieve this, we will work with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), and NHS England to enable better information sharing between health professionals and local authorities. This will speed up the process of matching children to the right specialist provision package and create a more direct route to specialist provision for those with the most complex needs at the earliest stage.

We have asked for feedback on this proposal as part of the consultation and will build on these responses to develop this policy in partnership with parents, local authorities, settings, DHSC and NHS England.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. This data is shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on student courses.

The department only has placement data on courses that have students enrolled on. For the 2024/25 academic year, approximately 23.9% of undergraduate courses with students enrolled on had the option of taking a placement with a length of at least one year.

The E6 condition of registration, introduced by the Office for Students (OfS) on 1 August last year, requires registered higher education providers to have strong policies to prevent and address harassment, including antisemitic abuse. The government expects universities to comply fully with E6 and the OfS has powers to act where institutions breach this condition of registration.

Information is collected from local authorities in England on a termly basis on how many children they have recorded as being in elective home education (EHE) or who are children missing education (CME). On the census data for the 2025/26 autumn term, local authorities reported 126,000 children in EHE and 34,700 CME.

As there is currently no legal requirement for parents to inform local authorities that their children are not in school, this information is based only on those parents of which local authorities are aware.

As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are introducing a requirement for every local authority in England and Wales to hold compulsory Children Not in School registers.

The department is expanding opportunities for young people through high-quality careers guidance and meaningful work experience. Evidence shows that strong careers provision can reduce the risk of a young person being not in education, employment or training by 8% after age 16 and 18.

Working with the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), we continue to raise quality through investment in careers hubs, employer networks and careers leader training, all of which help schools and colleges improve their provision. The CEC is introducing OnTrack+, a data tool that helps educators identify emerging support needs for learners in years 7 to 11, strengthening engagement and supporting successful post-16 transitions.

The department’s ambition is for every young person to have two weeks’ worth of work experience during their secondary education. We are investing in pilot activities to identify and remove barriers to high-quality placements, with targeted support for disadvantaged cohorts and learners in state-funded alternative provision.

In 2020, the regional breakdown of higher education students from England who participated in the Erasmus+ programme was:

• 18.6% from the South West.
• 14.7% from London.
• 13.7% from the West Midlands.
• 11.7% from the East Midlands.
• 10.6% from Yorkshire and The Humber.
• 10.4% from the South East.
• 8.4% from the North West.
• 7.1% from the North East.
• 4.8% from the East of England.

All Erasmus+ data is publicly available.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. These data are shared with the department and include a wide range of information on student courses.

Figure 7 of HESA’s ‘Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2024/25’ reports the number of enrolments for UK providers based on student permanent address prior to study. According to Figure 7, in the academic year 2024/25, there were 25,820 undergraduate student enrolments with a Welsh permanent address at Higher Education providers in England.

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the noble Lord directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The department does not hold this data, as it does not carry out identity checks on maintained school governors or those on local governing bodies in academy trusts. ​​The governing body for a maintained school and the academy trust for a trust local governing body are responsible for ensuring such checks are conducted.

The department does not hold this data, as it does not carry out identity checks on maintained school governors or those on local governing bodies in academy trusts. ​​The governing body for a maintained school and the academy trust for a trust local governing body are responsible for ensuring such checks are conducted.

The department does not hold this data, as it does not carry out identity checks on maintained school governors or those on local governing bodies in academy trusts. ​​The governing body for a maintained school and the academy trust for a trust local governing body are responsible for ensuring such checks are conducted.

Participation in the arts brings a range of benefits for children and young people. In addition to the value of arts engagement in and of itself, the Education Endowment Fund’s teaching and learning toolkit, for example, reports positive impacts on academic outcomes in other curriculum areas, as well as benefits to children’s wellbeing and attitudes to learning.

There is a range of support available to schools from external organisations to help them provide arts and cultural activities. The government will be publishing a new enrichment framework this academic year, which will encourage partnership working and signpost to organisations, such as Arts Council England.

We are also committed to revitalising arts as part of the reformed national curriculum and qualifications, with high-quality support for teachers of these subjects through the new National Centre for Music and Arts, and our music hubs network.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We want to make sure that every family that needs support can access it.

The government is introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals so that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals from September 2026. This will make it easier for parents to know whether their children are entitled to receive free meals. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty and putting £500 per child back in families’ pockets.

We are also rolling out improvements to the Eligibility Checking System, the digital portal currently used by local authorities to verify if a child meets the eligibility criteria for free lunches. Giving parents and schools access will accelerate eligibility checks, making it easier to check if children are eligible for free meals.

The information requested is not held centrally. The department holds information on pupils’ special educational needs and their attainment by 14 types of primary need. Dyslexia is usually included in the wider category of primary need ‘specific learning difficulty’. In 2025, 33% of pupils with ‘specific learning difficulty’ recorded as their primary need met the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1. The English Hubs programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress. Reading Ambition for All is a continuous professional development programme to support schools help struggling readers, delivered by our 34 English Hubs, reaching more than 600 schools this academic year.

I refer the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East to the answer of 23 March 2026 to Question 121271.

I refer the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East to the answer of 23 March 2026 to Question 121270.

Where a child or young person with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) has an education, health and care (EHC) plan, the local authority must secure the special educational provision specified in the plan. The allocation of top-up funding to the school or college often helps secure that provision.

Our national guidance on allocation of high needs top-up funding (sometimes called element 3) is set out in section 7 of the 2026 to 2027 high needs funding operational guide here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2026-to-2027/high-needs-funding-2026-to-2027-operational-guide#highneedstopfunding. This includes guidance that local authorities should collaborate with neighbouring local authorities when reviewing and developing their top-up funding bands, with a view to bringing more consistency to the levels of top-up funding for schools and colleges used routinely for placements by more than one local authority. The guidance also refers to conditions of grant that require local authorities to make timely payments of top-up funding.

In February, we launched our SEND reform consultation to build on existing good practice and improve inclusivity and support in schools and colleges. These include reforms to the allocation of funding and to accountability, which will create a simpler, fairer and more collaborative system focused on outcomes, replacing bureaucracy with clarity and trust.

Where a child or young person with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) has an education, health and care (EHC) plan, the local authority must secure the special educational provision specified in the plan. The allocation of top-up funding to the school or college often helps secure that provision.

Our national guidance on allocation of high needs top-up funding (sometimes called element 3) is set out in section 7 of the 2026 to 2027 high needs funding operational guide here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2026-to-2027/high-needs-funding-2026-to-2027-operational-guide#highneedstopfunding. This includes guidance that local authorities should collaborate with neighbouring local authorities when reviewing and developing their top-up funding bands, with a view to bringing more consistency to the levels of top-up funding for schools and colleges used routinely for placements by more than one local authority. The guidance also refers to conditions of grant that require local authorities to make timely payments of top-up funding.

In February, we launched our SEND reform consultation to build on existing good practice and improve inclusivity and support in schools and colleges. These include reforms to the allocation of funding and to accountability, which will create a simpler, fairer and more collaborative system focused on outcomes, replacing bureaucracy with clarity and trust.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. Measures are in place to limit and reduce class sizes, particularly for younger children. Legislation caps the size of an infant class at 30 pupils per qualified teacher. Infant classes are those in which most pupils turn five, six, or seven during the school year. Current data shows the average infant class size is 26.2 pupils, a decrease of 0.4 compared with the previous year.

There is no statutory limit on class sizes for older children aged eight and above. Schools have the flexibility to organise these classes according to local needs and circumstances, ensuring pupils receive the support they need to achieve and thrive. The average primary class size, covering both infant and junior classes, is 26.4 pupils, down by 0.2 from last year.

These trends, alongside the statutory infant class limit, demonstrate that current measures are helping to keep class sizes manageable in primary schools.

Since 2022, the department has invested around £33 million into supported internships to provide more opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to transition into sustained, paid employment. This investment has been delivered by the Internships Work consortium and has provided training and support to local authorities, employers, education providers and job coaches to increase the number of supported internships and improve quality across the country.

As part of this investment, we also launched a pilot to test supported internships with young people who have learning difficulties and disabilities and are furthest from the labour market, but who do not have an education, health and care plan. This pilot has helped hundreds of young people to develop the skills and confidence needed for the workplace, demonstrating positive outcomes.

In the consultation on SEND reform that was published alongside the ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ paper, we set out that we intend to continue this pilot for at least a further year. Further details will be published in due course.

On 23 February, we published two major documents: the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper and the SEND Consultation Document. Together, these set out our plans to build an education system that will ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the right support at every stage of their education.

We are consulting on the reforms in the publication, and you can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.

The government is providing substantial, targeted investment to help local areas grow and strengthen their specialist workforce. Over the next three years, £1.8 billion will be made available to local area partnerships to develop and rollout of the Experts at Hand offer.

Local area partnerships will design and implement their own Experts at Hand models, tailored to local needs and workforce capacity. This will be supported by strong national oversight. The department will set the overall framework, provide guidance and tools, and work closely with local areas to ensure consistent quality.

​To support this, we have also announced £15 million for new speech and language therapy advanced practitioner roles, as well as continuing our investment in the educational psychology workforce with £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, building on previous investment.

The department knows that continuing to build the pipeline of speech and language therapists is essential. That is why we are working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with SEND.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Sheffield Hallam to the answer of 26 February 2026 to Question 109848

As part of our new investment, schools will be able to access support, advice, training and specialist expertise from professionals such as speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, occupational therapists and specialist teachers. These experts will work directly with school staff to equip them with the skills and strategies to better meet need, including delivering group‑level interventions to address needs early and effectively.

We will also set out guidance on inclusive, evidence-based ordinarily available provision through the National Inclusion Standards, to support all mainstream settings to meet the needs of all children and young people effectively. Schools will be required to produce an Inclusion Strategy, encouraging effective cohort-level planning for common and predictable needs and the meaningful implementation of inclusive education.

We also continue to involve and engage with families and special educational needs and disabilities stakeholders through our Participation and Family Support programme.

The department works closely with local authorities to strengthen safeguarding standards across early years settings, including nurseries and childcare centres.

Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are seeking to require the automatic involvement of education and childcare settings in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, ensuring their participation and that their views are represented at both strategic and operational levels. These measures strengthen the role of education and childcare providers in safeguarding and support effective information sharing through statutory guidance.

As part of wider safeguarding reforms, in September 2025 we strengthened safeguarding requirements through changes to the early years foundation stage statutory framework, including enhanced expectations on safer recruitment, child absences, safer eating, safeguarding training and whistleblowing.

In addition, we have appointed an expert panel to inform the development of guidance for the early years sector on the use of digital devices and CCTV within safeguarding. This guidance is due to be published in the autumn and will set out best practice, technical information and clear expectations for providers.

The Inclusive Mainstream Fund provides £1.6 billion in funding, over three years, to schools, colleges and early years settings to deliver an improved inclusion offer.

The department will soon publish methodology documents to explain how the funding will be distributed for the three phases. The funding will be made available to early years, schools and 16-19 institutions through new grants from 2026/27.

Free breakfast clubs are for schools with primary-aged pupils, so that we make sure we give the youngest pupils the best start in life whilst helping parents with costs of childcare. Free breakfast clubs remove barriers to opportunity by offering primary school children, no matter their circumstance, a supportive start to the school day. School leaders report that free breakfast clubs are improving punctuality, attendance, behaviour and concentration. We have an ongoing free breakfast club programme evaluation which aims to build evidence and insights into impact on attendance for primary-age pupils.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence and resilience.

The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to build the UK’s resilience to any potential escalation to conflict. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK. It is informed by and reflects the recommendations from government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy and Resilience Action Plan.

The department is actively supporting this work. Officials in the department are in regular discussions with The Ministry of Defence and other government departments.

The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including pupils with speech and language needs.

Courses must incorporate the minimum entitlement set out in the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework. It remains for individual providers to design courses that are appropriate to the needs of trainees and for the subject, phase and age range that the trainees will be teaching.

We have recently updated the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework, adding significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and improving inclusivity for pupils with SEND.

We have also committed to a full review of early career teacher training in 2027, which will include a focus on SEND.

In addition, we have announced a training package of over £200 million that will upskill staff in every school, college and nursery to better support pupils with SEND. Finally, we know the importance of ensuring children can speak and listen well from the earliest years, so we will develop a new oracy framework to sit alongside the revised national curriculum.

Nationally, mainstream school funding allocated through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) is increasing by 2.6% per pupil, from £6,608 in 2025/26 to £6,778 in 2026/27. This brings total funding for mainstream schools through the DSG schools block to £50.5 billion in 2026/27. This will support mainstream schools with ongoing costs and deliver an excellent education for all, including pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

From 2026/27 onwards, we will provide £1.6 billion for a new Inclusive Mainstream Fund over three years.

We will provide more details on how this funding will be distributed in the coming weeks.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out our plans to build a system that supports every child to achieve and thrive.

It sets a clear path to raising standards and broadens children’s education. This includes a refreshed curriculum, improved transitions and an enrichment entitlement for every child.

To help improve GCSE outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, we are driving standards through new RISE teams, a refreshed high-quality curriculum and assessment system, recruiting 6,500 additional teachers and piloting a new place‑based Headteacher Retention Incentive to attract and support headteachers in the areas that need them most.

Additionally, in the 2026/27 financial year, £3.2 billion of pupil premium funding will support improved outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, and the National Funding Formula will allocate £5.6 billion according to deprivation. We are also developing a new model to better target disadvantage funding at the most entrenched need.

When this generation finishes secondary school, our ambition is for all pupils to reach at least a grade 5 across their GCSEs and for the disadvantage gap to be halved, with 30,000 more disadvantaged pupils passing English and maths GCSEs.