I made a commitment in my manifesto to boost Bath’s local talent and part of this strongly involves investing in schools and supporting the education of children. I have been working closely with local schools to encourage growth and achievement. As a school governor at the Bath Studio School, I have seen the superb work that they are doing to encourage a diversification in the provision of education.
I appreciate your concern with this issue. I believe it is unacceptable for children's success to be determined by their social circumstances. That is why I am pleased the Government is taking action to raise the achievement for all disadvantaged pupils, and to close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.
For the financial year 2014-15, the Government is providing £2.5 billion of pupil premium funding to schools, with most of this going to primary schools. This means that pupil premium has risen to £1,300 per disadvantaged pupil of primary school age. The pupil premium is paid to schools as they are best placed to assess what additional provision their pupils need. This represents a major investment in helping to raise the attainment of disadvantage pupils from reception to year 11.
Schools are required to publish details online each year of how they are using the pupil premium, and the impact it is having. Schools are held to account for the achievement of disadvantaged pupils through Ofsted inspections and performance tables, which includes data on the progress made by these pupils, the attainment of these pupils, and the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Significant funding has also been made available to the Education Endowment Foundation to help raise the attainment of disadvantaged children.