Pupil premium should be extended to disadvantaged nursery children

While poorer two-year-olds and school-age children receive extra funding, three-and four-year-olds miss out

The Mind the Gap report said that this risks potentially undoing the earlier financial investment these children receive at two and is calling on the Government to stretch the pupil premium so that all disadvantaged children can benefit.

The report proposes a cost-neutral solution, which involves spreading the pupil premium for children from three to 16, instead of five to 16, by re-distributing the funding across the age group.

Barnardo’s has calculated that the estimated value of the pupil premium, which the Government has said will be worth £2.5 billion in 2014-15, will equate to around £1,320 per pupil per year.

A pupil premium stretched to cover all three-and four-year-olds meeting the same eligibility criteria would reduce this figure to £1,200.

The report adds that as the 15-hour entitlement for three-and four-year-old is less than the statutory requirement for school-age children, the figures could be adjusted to provide a £1,230 pupil premium for school-age children and a £920 pupil premium for three-and four-year-olds.

Such a solution would have minimal impact on school age children, but make a real difference to disadvantaged three-and four-year-olds, the report said.

While the free entitlement for all three-and four-year-olds was ‘a great achievement…since the offer became universal, it can be argued the most disadvantaged children no longer get the extra support they need at this stage to keep pace with their more advantaged peers,’ the report said.

Co-author of the Mind the Gap report Jonathan Rallings said, ‘The Government has made a firm and bold statement that they need to provide extra money through the pupil premium. There’s a clear statement with the two-year-old offer that acts as a pupil premium for that age group. It’s the very fact that they have identified a group of two-year-olds in order to catch up. There’s nothing equivalent for three-and four-year-olds and that’s illogical.’

A pupil premium for disadvantaged three-and four-year-olds would enable children to be more ‘school ready’ and stop the gains for children at two from being lost, Mr Rallings added.

This funding could be used to pay for more speech and language therapists, early years graduates, and smaller groups, Mr Rallings suggested.

Barnardo’s also recommends that Ofsted inspect the use of education uplift funding to make sure that it is being used effectively to improve the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. It suggests that no early years setting, school or other provider should be awarded ‘outstanding’, unless they can be shown to be ‘outstanding’ in educating the most disadvantaged children.

The report also recommends that given the large amounts of public funding allocated to the pupil premium, it is important that the Government commission a longitudinal study to evaluate the impact of uplift funding on social mobility.

Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie, said, ‘Investment in early years is crucial; it can help children advance, catch up, and overcome disadvantage. It’s one of the most important and powerful factors in determining a child’s future.

‘The Government needs to put its money where its mouth is and ensure the most vulnerable three and four-year-olds get the same additional support as school children.

 ‘Mind this gap to ensure that the dice are not irrevocably loaded against our poorest children well before they arrive at the school gates.’