Research into effective use of pupil premium published by Ofsted, IPPR and the Sutton Trust

An abundance of research and inspection evidence on the effectiveness of school spending on the pupil premium has been published in recent weeks, including reports from Ofsted (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/pupil-premium), IPPR (http://www.ippr.org/articles/56/10277/maximising-the-pupil-premium), and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and Sutton Trust. The EEF’s new Toolkit and guidance (here) ranks interventions according to the strength of evidence and includes video clips of practitioners acting on it, together with easy guidance on how to evaluate an local intervention.  The Toolkit has been widely welcomed, helping schools manage the funds to greatest effect.

The pupil premium was introduced in April 2011 to raise achievement for disadvantaged pupils, and in 2012–13 schools were allocated £1.25 billion funding for children from low-income families who were eligible for free school meals, looked-after children, and children from families with parents in the Armed Forces.

The Ofsted survey, based on the views of 262 school leaders, suggested the funding was being used to "plug the gap" in school budgets. Meanwhile, IPPR raised the question of whether the money came too late. “A large part of the gap in achievement appears long before secondary school. Around half of the achievement gap which manifests itself at 16 was already present when those pupils started secondary school,” the report says.