Pupil premiums which are additional funding schools receive for children who are eligible for free school meals. Unlike previous funding arrangements, the money here follows the student rather than the school which creates incentives for good schools to recruit more students from poorer backgrounds. Ministers of both parties in the coalition believe this is a key part of social mobility.
And the Liberal Democrat Children’s Minister Sarah Tethers announced an increase in pupil premium funding. Instead of £488 currently available per pupil schools would receive £600 per eligible student from September 2012. And this would not increase the overall funding of £1.25 Billion for pupil premium next year.
That budget is set to rise to £2.5 Billion by the end of this Parliament. Under the scheme, schools are provided freedom to spend it the way they see fit with an aim to reduce the gap between poorer children and their more affluent counterparts. However, schools would be required to detail and publish how the funds were spent and what has been achieved from next year as well.
Although welcoming the overall proposals of increased funding for disadvantaged pupils, Stephen Twigg, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary questioned if adequate accountability was built into the scheme to ensure funds were spent appropriately. And he did not fail to remind voters that this government has brought in the biggest spending cuts in education since 1950’s.
But the Department of Education remains confident. Not only did they announce additional funding per pupil the government also announced widening the scheme to all pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at anytime in the past six years. It was a key Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment in the 2010 General Election and they have delivered it in the coalition government.
After all the hits from all sides the Liberal Democrats needed to demonstrate why they make a difference in government. And this was what Cameron gave them to highlight this week. This was a clear sign that the Conservatives are trying to make easy for their Liberal Democrat allies in government – and what better than a policy no politician or even union can really criticise.
But unsurprisingly, there was criticism from some of the unions but it was not about pupil premium. "The Institute for Fiscal Studies reported that almost three-quarters of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools face losses against inflation over the period to 2015, even taking into account the pupil premium," Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers said.
But despite the arguments about overall spending cuts the idea of a pupil premium scheme has been widely welcomed although there are concerns about how it would be effectively implemented.