Third of heads use pupil premium to plug funding gaps

A survey of 420 school leaders by The Sutton Trust and National Foundation for Educational Research found that 30 per cent are using pupil premium money, which is earmarked to improve the educational attainment of pupils from low-income families, to instead meet funding shortfalls.

The proportion is marginally higher among primary school head teachers, with 32 per cent saying they are using pupil premium money in this way, compared with 27 per cent of secondary school leaders.

The survey also suggests that disadvantaged pupils are being further affected by cuts to teaching staff, being carried out by schools due to budget cuts.

Almost half (47 per cent) of head teachers in the most disadvantaged fifth of schools said they had cut teaching staff numbers, compared with just more than a third (35 per cent) in the least disadvantaged fifth of schools. London and the North East of England are the worst-hit areas for teaching cuts, the survey found.

Sutton Trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl said: "Our new polling adds to the growing evidence from highly credible sources that the squeeze on school budgets is having a detrimental effect on schools. 

"Of particular concern is that schools are having to use funding for poorer pupils to plug gaps in their finances. Many are having to get rid of teachers to close these funding gaps."

Where pupil premium money is meeting its intended target, more than a quarter of head teachers (27 per cent) said they were using it on early intervention schemes, while 12 per cent are using it for one-to-one tuition. The same proportion are investing in teaching assistants to support their most disadvantaged pupils.

However, a fifth (18 per cent) of teachers were unclear what their school's main priority for pupil premium spending is.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that schools are held accountable by governors and Ofsted about how pupil premium money is spent. He also called for automatic registration for the pupil premium, claiming that currently too many eligible children are missing out.

"The real issue surrounding the pupil premium is that too many children are still missing out on their entitlement," he said.

"The burden is on parents to come forward to register and for schools to coax families into admitting they need help.

"Department for Education figures show that nationally 11 per cent of eligible children are missing out, close to 30 per cent in some areas," Hobby said.

Research published last month by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that schools are facing a real-term budget cut of 6.5 per cent between 2015/16 and 2019/20, the largest cut over a four-year period since the early 1980s.