Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to reduce the attainment gap for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds at (a) Year 6, (b) GCSE and (c) A Level.

Reforms to support schools and drive improved attainment were set out in the Schools White Paper.

The Department is funding 55 Education Investment Areas (EIA), of which 24 are Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIA). In each of the 24 PEIAs, the Department will make further investment available in addition to the significant support available to all EIAs. PEIAs will receive a share of around £40 million of funding to address local needs, and priority access to a number of other programmes offered by the Department.

This is in addition to the targeted support provided by the pupil premium to help schools raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Since its introduction, total pupil premium funding has increased from £600 million in the 2011/12 financial year to over £2.6 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. Per pupil funding rates are increasing by 2.7% in 2022/23, to their highest ever levels in cash terms.

The education of disadvantaged children has been particularly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department is committed to helping these pupils to recover and help close the attainment gap. That is why recovery programmes are focused on those most in need.

The Department is providing £1 billion to extend recovery premium funding over the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years. This will help schools deliver evidence based approaches to support disadvantaged pupils. It builds on the nearly £1 billion in flexible funding delivered to schools in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years, through the catch up and recovery premia.

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) is helping pupils receive additional targeted support, including those who have been hit by disruption to their education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the NTP began in November 2020, nearly 3 million courses have been started on the Programme.

The 16-19 Tuition Fund offers courses to accelerate the progression of lower attaining students. Eligibility in the 2021/22 academic year was broadened to include economic disadvantage in addition to low prior attainment. For the 2022/23 academic year, the Department has broadened this eligibility further to allow more students to benefit from the funding.