In September, children's minister Sarah Teather made two announcements. First, she wants local authorities to provide free early education for all two-year-olds who are looked after by the state.
Second, the funding for the pupil premium, which is paid to schools to help with the education of deprived children and looked-after children, will double to £1.25bn in 2012/13. Both these announcements are indications that the education of looked-after children has moved up the government's agenda – something that Tact has been campaigning for.
However, looked-after children can still encounter problems getting into outstanding schools. Kevin Williams, chief executive of Tact said: "The battle for admissions has been won on paper, but not yet in reality."
