Schools have been told to show that their pupil premium spending is backed by evidence and be prepared for  “monitoring checks” by the Department for Education from September.

The department said that from the academic year 2021-22, schools ”must demonstrate how their spending decisions [on the pupil premium] are informed by research evidence, making reference to a range of sources”.

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Schools already have a duty to publish a pupil premium strategy on their website but now face additional external scrutiny. 

The DfE confirmed that schools must adhere to new conditions attached to the £2.5 billion of expected funding for disadvantaged pupils for the next academic year, with grants dependent on schools publishing pupil premium spending strategy reports annually, while the department will carry out monitoring checks on samples of schools.

Schools face scrutiny on pupil premium spending

A DfE document published today says: “All schools must use the templates available on gov.uk to publish their 2021 to 2022 pupil premium strategy, by the end of December 2021.”

It also says that, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s pupil premium guide, spending must go towards activities that support teaching quality.

This includes professional development, activities that provide targeted academic support, such as tutoring, and those that tackle “non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support”.

The DfE added that governors and trustees “should scrutinise schools’ plans, including their plans for and use of their pupil premium funding”.

“Schools are held accountable for the outcomes they achieve with all their funding, including through Ofsted inspections and by governors and trustees, and this will be no exception”, the department said.