Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the pupil premium at reducing attainment gaps in (a) England and (b) in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

Schools receive pupil premium, worth over £3 billion in 2025/26, to support disadvantaged pupils’ educational outcomes. South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency’s pupil premium allocation this financial year is £5.59 million.

The department published an evaluation of pupil and recovery premia in March 2025: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67dd5b7f0114b0b86e59f42b/Pupil_premium_and_recovery_premium_evaluation.pdf.

This contained positive findings, for example 85% of schools and 91% of trusts agreed that having pupil premium meant they had a better strategy for meeting disadvantaged pupils’ needs.