Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the report by Adoption UK From Both Sides, published on 3 March; and in particular the recommendation that school leaders, including governing bodies, should receive training and information on the purpose and effective use of Pupil Premium Plus, including how it fits into the school’s wider Pupil Premium strategy.

The department’s guidance is clear that the purpose of pupil premium funding is to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. However, the specific needs and challenges of each eligible cohort are likely to be different.

Pupil premium is not a personal budget. School leaders, in collaboration with relevant parties, are best placed to decide how to use the funding across their school to support the needs of all eligible pupils, although interventions should be evidence based and in the best interests of the child.

Statutory guidance for designated teachers explains that pupil premium plus funding for looked-after and previously looked-after children is additional funding provided to help close the attainment gap between this group and their peers. Whilst there will be some overlap with the needs of children who attract pupil premium, looked-after and previously looked-after children’s needs can be very different, and the extra funding reflects the additional barriers that this group face. The guidance includes information on the effective use of pupil premium plus to address the specific needs of looked-after and previously looked-after children. Further information on this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-teacher-for-looked-after-children.

The department’s ‘Using Pupil Premium’ guidance supports school leaders to use their funding effectively and explains that schools must ensure they consider the specific needs of previously looked-after children. Schools can also draw on expert support and advice from Virtual School Heads, many of whom offer direct training for designated teachers. Further information on this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-effective-use-and-accountability.

The department’s national adoption strategy sets out our aims and ambitions to drive improvements across all adoption agencies in England. Regional Adoption Agency leaders are uniquely placed to understand and review the impact of pupil premium plus due to their strong working relationships with virtual school heads as well as their ongoing work directly with adopters. This will allow them to feed back to ensure schools are considering the best use of pupil premium plus funding to drive improvements for children.