Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the context of the impact of persistent disadvantage on academic success, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve the tracking of persistently disadvantaged pupils in the Eastleigh constituency and (b) close the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils in the Eastleigh constituency.

The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes our plan to improve outcomes for all children across all constituencies. We recognise that poverty can have a significant impact on children's attainment and life chances, and tackling child poverty is central to the government's work to break down barriers to opportunity. When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that the key stage 4 disadvantage gap will be halved.

The department’s approach is comprehensive and includes rebuilding early family support, improving teacher recruitment and retention so every child benefits from high-quality teaching, broadening the curriculum alongside access to high-quality enrichment, and launching two place-based missions to drive improvement in areas where outcomes remain stubbornly low.