The NAO’s new report highlights how the attainment gap is growing despite the Department for Education (DfE) spending around around £60 billion to provide support to all children across schools and early years settings. It says for 2023-24, this included an estimated £9.2 billion to support disadvantaged children and narrowing the attainment gap between them and their peers.
‘Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children’ argues that early years provision can support the attainment of disadvantaged children, but DfE spends ‘comparatively less’ on the EYPP and no analysis has been carried out to explain the funding differences between early years settings and schools.
For 2024-25, it says the maximum EYPP annual rate per pupil is £388, compared with £1,480 for primary schools and £1,050 for secondary schools.
'The DfE does not yet understand the outcomes resulting from a significant proportion of its expenditure on disadvantaged children'.
The NAO goes on to argue, ‘DfE has evidence to support some of its interventions and uses this to help schools and early years providers to make decisions. However, it does not yet understand the outcomes resulting from a significant proportion of its expenditure on disadvantaged children. It also does not have a fully integrated view of its interventions, or milestones to assess progress and when more may need to be done.
‘This, and the lack of sustained progress reducing the disadvantage attainment gap since 2010/11, means that DfE cannot demonstrate it is achieving value for money. To make progress, and secure value for money, it should build more evidence of what works, look strategically across its interventions and how it allocates its funding, and work effectively across government to address the wider factors to make progress on this complex issue.’
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and Early Education welcomed the NAO’s recommendation that pupil premium rates be reviewed.
Beatrice Merrick, chief executive of Early Education, said, ‘We have long argued that disadvantage funding for the early years should at least equal the level provided to schools, both raising Early Years Pupil Premium to match Pupil Premium rates in primary schools, and increasing the disadvantage supplement in the Early Years National Funding Formula to a comparable rate to the additional needs factor for schools.
‘If anything, the evidence suggests benefit in an enhanced rate of disadvantage funding for the early years (ideally defined as up to age 6 or 7) to ensure all children are achieving their potential from the start, as the evidence suggests that rather than being able to catch up later, it is more common to see the achievement gap widen.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), commented, ‘Research shows that investing in early education and care really makes all the difference to a child’s life, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are much more likely to fall behind their peers before they even start school.
‘Early years investment must be a priority in line with mainstream education funding. The current approach is not working as the attainment gap gets ever wider.’
