Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase pupil premium funding for economically disadvantaged children.

We are committed to levelling up opportunities to make sure everyone has a fair chance to realise their potential and no-one is left behind. The pupil premium furthers this objective by helping schools improve the academic attainment and wider outcomes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Since the pupil premium was introduced in 2011, it has provided?more than?£18 billion of additional funding for schools and has played an important role in contributing to the narrowing of the disadvantaged attainment gaps at ages 11 and 16 years.

Pupil premium allocations for the 2020-21 financial year were published in June, and the first quarterly instalments were paid out in June and July. Announcements on pupil premium funding for the 2021-22 financial year will follow later in the year, in line with the usual timetable. Announcements for future years will be made in due course.

The total allocated through the pupil premium was £2.41 billion last financial year (2019-20) and is £2.45 billion this financial year (2020-21).