How does pupil premium spending affect Ofsted judgements?

The effectiveness of leadership and management

The School Inspection Handbook explains, in paragraph 148, that when judging the effectiveness of leadership and management, inspectors will consider:

How effectively leaders use additional funding, including the pupil premium, and measure its impact on outcomes for pupils, and how effectively governors hold them to account for this.

The pupil premium is also mentioned in the grade descriptors for leadership and management, found on pages 46 to 49 of the handbook.

The ‘outstanding’ grade descriptors include the following:

Governors systematically challenge senior leaders so that the effective deployment of staff and resources, including the pupil premium, the primary PE and sport premium, year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium and special educational needs funding, secures excellent outcomes for pupils.

Governors do not shy away from challenging leaders about variations in outcomes for pupil groups and between disadvantaged and other pupils nationally.

In the ‘good’ grade descriptors it says:

Governors hold senior leaders stringently to account for all aspects of the school’s performance, including the use of pupil premium, the primary PE and sport premium, year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium and special educational needs funding, ensuring that the skilful deployment of staff and resources delivers good or improving outcomes for pupils.

You can access the School Inspection Handbook from the following page:

School inspection handbook, GOV.UK – Ofsted https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-from-september-2015

What evidence will inspectors consider?

Paragraph 30 of the School Inspection Handbook, linked to above, says that when preparing for an inspection, the lead inspector will analyse information on the school’s website, including its pupil premium strategy (including rationale and evaluation).

The lead inspector will also request that any reports following an external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium are made available at the start of the inspection, where applicable. This is explained in paragraph 39.

Paragraph 159 says that during the inspection, inspectors will gather evidence about the use of the pupil premium in relation to the following:

• The level of pupil premium funding received by the school this academic year and in previous years
• How leaders and governors have spent the pupil premium, their rationale for this spending and its intended impact
• Any differences made to the learning and progress of disadvantaged pupils as shown by outcomes data and inspection evidence

Comparing pupil progress data: what will inspectors consider?

Paragraph 188 of the School Inspection Handbook says that inspectors: 

... will take particular account of the progress made by disadvantaged pupils from their starting points.

They will consider the progress made by the end of the Key Stage compared with that made nationally by other pupils with similar starting points. Inspectors must review carefully what data is meaningful and avoid focusing on the performance of small groups where assessment information is less reliable.

Paragraph 189 adds that for current pupils, inspectors will consider the impact of what a school is doing to reduce any differences in progress and attainment between disadvantaged and other pupils with the same starting points.

Inspectors ... will consider consider in-school gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils

One of our associate education experts, David New, said that when inspectors are assessing these figures, they will compare the progress of disadvantaged pupils with all non-disadvantaged pupils, not just with those who have similar starting points.

He said if inspectors only compared the progress and attainment of pupils who started at a similar level, they would be unable to establish if gaps in attainment between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils are closing. 

Inspectors may recommend an external review of the pupil premium

Paragraph 160 of the handbook says:

Inspectors will recommend an external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium if they identify weakness regarding the provision and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

Schools will be made aware of the reasons for recommending an external review of the pupil premium at the final feedback meeting (see paragraph 95 of the handbook).

What do we do if there is no 'achievement gap'?

A governor asked us if the school can spend the grant on all pupils if there is no 'achievement gap' between the pupils eligible for the pupil premium and those who are not.

The Department for Education (DfE) has published a document explaining the conditions of the pupil premium grant. This does not specify how schools can spend this funding, except to say that the grant may be spent by schools for:

• For the purposes of the school i.e. for the educational benefit of pupils registered at that school
• For the benefit of pupils registered at other maintained schools or academies
• On community facilities e.g. services whose provision furthers any charitable purpose for the benefit of pupils at the school or their families, or people who live or work in the locality in which the school is situated

Terms on which pupil premium grant is allocated to schools, Pupil premium 2015 to 2016: conditions of grant, GOV.UK – DfE https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2015-to-2016-allocations/pupil-premium-2015-to-2016-conditions-of-grant#terms-on-which-ppg-is-allocated-to-schools

The DfE says that schools are best placed to assess what additional provision their pupils need.

Pupil premium, GOV.UK – DfE https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/raising-the-achievement-of-disadvantaged-children/supporting-pages/pupil-premium

We asked another of our associate education experts, Gulshan Kayembe, what governors should do if there is no achievement gap between pupils. She said that as a first step, governors should fully satisfy themselves that there are no gaps at all.

Governors should fully satisfy themselves that there are no gaps at all

Gulshan pointed out that inspectors will look for gaps:

• Between disadvantaged pupils in the school and disadvantaged pupils nationally
• In all year groups in the school, not just those at the end of Key Stages

She added that it is very rare for schools to have no achievement gaps at all, so governors should ensure they are not missing any. They should challenge the senior leadership team on this.

Gulshan advised that the funding should be used to enhance the attainment of those eligible for the pupil premium, as well as narrowing any gaps. The funding should also be used to provide broader opportunities, such as educational or cultural visits, for disadvantaged groups.

Another article from The Key looks at guidance on spending and reporting on the pupil premium grant:

Pupil premium: spending and accountability Finance & premises : School finance : School expenditure

Another of our articles looks at which pupils are eligible for pupil premium funding:

Pupil premium: eligible pupils Finance & premises : School finance : School funding