Event

Is it time to overhaul the Pupil Premium?

This event hosted by UK think tank the Centre for Social Justice will discuss whether the pupil premium is fit for purpose.

The Pupil Premium has been a cornerstone of education policy for over a decade. But new CSJ analysis (due to be published on Sunday 13th July) on the most recent academic data paints a startling picture. Despite tens of billions of pounds being invested in schools through the pupil premium to raise attainment, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils remain deeply uneven. Post-Covid trends are alarming and geographically inconsistent; and a large number of schools are seeing the attainment gap widen. The current eligibility system for pupil premium also fails – now more than ever – to reliably identify the children most in need of support.  

The recent Spending Review promised billions for schools – from expanding free school meals to funding nurseries and rebuilding infrastructure. But these pledges do not address the scale of the attainment crisis facing disadvantaged pupils. This panel brings together leaders from education, politics, and the media to ask: is the pupil premium fit for purpose? Does it need radical reform? And are schools still the right place to direct this funding? 

Our panel of experts includes Sir Kevan Collins, lead non-executive board member at the Department for Education, Sir Trevor Phillips OBE,broadcaster and former EHRC Chair, Professor Lee Elliot Major OBE, UK’s first Social Mobility Professor and co-creator of Pupil Premium Toolkit, Emma Bonnin, Headteacher of Pakeman Primary School, and Mercy Muroki, Development Director at the CSJ.