Today (Thursday 29 April) the Sutton Trust has published polling of teachers on their priorities for pupil premium funding and expressed concern about the change to the reporting date for pupil premium eligibility.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “That schools are being forced to use pupil premium funding to plug holes in their budgets should be of huge concern to government. It shows just how dire schools’ finances have become. A decade of austerity and underfunding has left schools with no safety net and many have found themselves unable to weather the additional costs and lost income caused by the pandemic.

"And it is those children that are most in need of help who are bearing the brunt. The government has made bold claims about their ambitions for recovery and said that no child will be left behind. But it is failing to back these words with action and is leaving schools without the funding and resources they need for the job ahead.

“Worse, by implementing the change in reporting date for pupil premium in the middle of the pandemic they have actively removed support for children from families who have been hardest hit. A significant number of children have become eligible for help via pupil premium but they will now not receive any additional funding for another whole year.

"A recent NAHT survey showed that the amount of money lost due to this change is more than schools are being given for education recovery. The government is giving with one hand while knowingly taking away with the other. This must be put right. Government must come clean about how much they have saved with this change, and they must put that money back into school budgets immediately.”

Press and Media contacts:

Steven George
NAHT Head of Press and Media
01444 472886
07970 907730

Rose Tremlett 
Senior Press Officer 
07545 354363

Email : press.office@naht.org.uk