Support for disadvantaged children in education in England

A variety of measures are in place that aim to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged children. This note draws together information on those measures, with particular information on those that have recently been introduced, as well as relevant reports and debates. As a definition of ‘disadvantage’, it uses eligibility for the Pupil Premium as a guide: children who have been eligible for free school meals during the past six years, children who are in care, and children who were previously in care but left in particular circumstances such as adoption.

The note includes information on:

• The Pupil Premium

• Free School Meals

• Education of children looked after by local authorities

• Other recent initiatives and reports

General information on Government policies aimed at raising the achievement of disadvantaged children is available on the gov.uk website.

Several of the measures included in this note are linked to the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy 2014-17, launched in June 2014. A Library note on the Child Poverty Act 2010, SN/SP/5585, provides further background.

The Library also has standard notes on School Funding: Pupil Premium, SN/SP/6700, and note School meals and nutritional standards, SN/SP/4195, which provide more detail on these areas.