“We agree with EPI’s call to target extra funding to support persistently disadvantaged pupils. These pupils experience much worse educational outcomes than other pupils. This affects their life chances and entrenches generational disadvantage. It is an obdurate problem which will only be solved by shifting the dial on how we do things – and this means targeting additional resources at these young people.
“The fact that pupil numbers are expected to fall – reducing the overall cost of school funding – provides the opportunity to use this ‘saving’ to do something really positive for these children without costing the taxpayer a penny extra. That is surely an opportunity that is too good to miss.”