Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The government is giving with one hand while knowingly taking away with the other. A significant number of children appear to have become eligible for help via pupil premium during the pandemic and these children will now not receive any additional funding for another whole year. The children who are losing out are exactly those children most in need of additional support.

“The government may say ‘no child left behind’, but with this simple ‘administrative tidy-up’ they have found a way to snatch back funding from schools and to further entrench educational disadvantage for the poorest families.

“The government must put this right. They must come clean about what they have saved and they must put that money back into schools 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