Pupil premium ‘step toward equality’

Nick Clegg yesterday put up a strident defence of one of the key Liberal Democrat policies from the last general election, describing the pupil premium as an “engine of social mobility” and denying it is simply being used by schools to plug funding cuts.

Under the coalition programme, schools receive £600 in extra funding for every pupil who qualifies for free school meals – a basic measure of poverty – in a bid to give poorer children a better chance of success. The premium increases each year and will have doubled by 2015.

Facing criticism schools are simply using the premium to absorb cuts elsewhere, Mr Clegg said he has made “absolutely sure” the premium will come on top of existing school budgets, and must be used to help the poorest youngsters.

The Sheffield Hallam MP said the extra money would be particularly beneficial in rural areas left under-funded by national pay allocations for many years.

“Rural poverty has not traditionally shown up in the way that school funding is allocated,” Mr Clegg said. “The pupil premium is a really important first step in healing that inequality.”

Mr Clegg said the extra money is being used for breakfast or homework clubs, one-to-one-tuition, counselling, educational trips and extra staff – claims supported by a recent survey by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). But in the same survey of 2,000 schools leaders, more than four-fifths said the premium has either equalled or not made up for financial losses elsewhere.

Many heads also remain unconvinced the premium will be beneficial to their poorest pupils, with just over a third saying they do not think it will make a difference.

But Mr Clegg said: “I made absolutely sure when we announced the premium it was properly additional to the basic school grant.

“We maintained the grant on a cash basis, even as pupil numbers increase throughout this Parliament. To those people who say it’s not enough – it’s going to be twice as big by the end of this Parliament. And it is already making a difference.”

Mr Clegg said Ofsted will begin judging schools on how well their poorer pupils perform, and announced plans for a competition in which the best 50 schools will win up to £10,000 for doing the most to boost the results of their poorest pupils.

The Lib Dem leader also announced plans to invite groups of local schools to bid for extra cash to help poorer youngsters struggling with reading and writing in the first year of secondary school.

Labour and the unions remain sceptical, pointing out that funding for the pupil premium has come from within the overall national schools budget.

NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby said: “NAHT has always supported the idea of a pupil premium, and is perfectly comfortable with being judged on the performance of the most vulnerable pupils .

“The Government needs to be frank, however, that the pupil premium is not extra funding – it merely substitutes for cuts elsewhere. It is a redistribution of funds within the system.”

And Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg said: “Nick Clegg has got a nerve talking about social mobility. More than half of headteachers say they will be forced to use the pupil premium to plug holes in their budget.

“With a million young people unemployed, the public will not be fooled.”

We must ensure all pupils can achieve their best: Page 11.