Plans to reform deprivation funding for schools announced in White Paper

Setting out plans in the Schools White Paper, Every child achieving and thriving, the Department for Education said funding could for example be determined by a “stepped model” - “ultimately meaning greater levels of investment for schools supporting the poorest children”. 

It said the model could take into account how low family income is, for how long this has been the case and the place a child lives. 

The Government warned that the disadvantage gap is “as stark today as it was over a decade ago in 2014”, with only 44% of poorer children achieving a pass at grade 4 or above in their maths and English GCSEs, compared to over 70% of children who do not receive free school meals. 

Building on the impact of the London Challenge in the early 2000s, which the Government said helped transform educational outcomes across the capital through collaboration and targeted intervention, the White Paper also sets out plans for two new area-based challenges: Mission North East and Mission Coastal.

The DfE said: “The schemes will drive up outcomes for pupils locally including white working-class children by bringing together schools, parents and communities to develop innovative strategies that will deliver sustained improvement and provide a blueprint for change nationally.”

The Schools White paper also sets out:  

• A new attendance target to recover 20 million school days per year by the end of the 2028/29 academic year compared to 2023/24;
• A commitment to develop minimum expectations for schools around engagement with parents, for example timely communication and high-quality transition from primary to secondary;
• Plans to increase SEND provision and support in mainstream schools, and raise the criteria for a child to secure an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “These reforms are a golden opportunity to cut the link between background and success – one that we must seize.

“Our schools have made great strides in recent decades. Yet for too long, many children in our country have been let down by a one-size fits all system, denied opportunity because they’re poor or because they have additional needs.

“Our schools white paper presents the blueprint for opportunity for the next generation, with an education system that truly serves every child, whatever their needs and wherever in the country they grow up.”

Lottie Winson