LBP0018

Written evidence submitted by The Northern Powerhouse Education Consortium

Education Select Committee

Left behind white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds Inquiry

SUBMISSION FROM THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM

Introduction and summary of recommendations

• Northern Powerhouse Education Consortium are a group of organisations with focus on education and disadvantage campaigning in the North of England, including SHINE, Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) and Tutor Trust. This is a joint submission to the inquiry, acting together as ‘The Northern Powerhouse Education Consortium’.

• We make the case that ethnicity is a major factor in the long term disadvantage gap, in particular white working class girls and boys. These issues are highly concentrated in left behind towns and the most deprived communities across the North of England.

• In the submission, we recommend strong actions for Government in particular:

• New smart Opportunity Areas across the North of England.
• An Emergency Pupil Premium distribution arrangement for 2020-21, including reform to better tackle long-term disadvantage.
• A Catch-up Premium for the return to school.
• Support to Northern Universities to provide additional temporary capacity for tutoring, including a key role for recent graduates and students to take part in accredited training.

About the Organisations in our consortium

• SHINE (Support and Help IN Education) are a charity based in Leeds that help to raise the attainment of disadvantaged children across the Northern Powerhouse. Trustees include Lord Jim O’Neill, also a co-founder of SHINE, and Raksha Pattni.

• The Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s Education Committee works as part of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) focusing on the Education and Skills agenda in the North of England. It is business led and works on a cross-party basis, also including representation from significant political figures from major political parties. The Committee is chaired by Tony Walsh (Barclays) and Vice Chair is Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe (Leader, Bradford Council) with members including Lord Jim O’Neill, Jonathan Moore (Arcadis), Raksha Pattni (Northern Director, Ambition), Jessica Bowles (Bruntwood); Julie Hurley (Atkins); Frank Norris (Coop Group) and Brenda Yearsley (Siemens) as well as a number of school leaders.
• Tutor Trust are the only major tutoring charity and EEF “Promising Project’ that is based in the North of England. Tutor Trust has been selected as one of just four delivery organisations for the official national pilot of online tutoring, and the only one of the four that is based in the North of England. 
• Right to Succeed is a charity that organises place-based transformation projects in low-income communities, particularly in the North West of England. Their projects focus on transforming outcomes for children, based on the belief that every child deserves the right to succeed no matter where they live.
• Schools North East is a movement for change; a registered charity and network giving a voice to all 1,150 North East schools in the education debate.  They are the definitive, apolitical voice of North East schools, influencing the shape of regional and national policy to deliver on our schools’ vision for young people. School engagement and input drives everything that they do. 
• South Yorkshire Future’s is a social mobility partnership programme for Sheffield Hallam University. As one of the most prominent universities in the UK for driving improvements in education and social mobility, this flagship programme works directly with the education sector, employers and others to improve attainment and aspirations for young people of all age groups, prioritising those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Inquiry Terms of reference 
Our submission focuses in particular on the following Terms of Reference:

• The extent of underachievement for white pupils who are eligible for FSM (free school meals), and how well the DfE’s statistics (including Progress 8 measures) capture that
• The variation within the cohort of white pupils who are eligible for FSM (including regional variation, and variation between the five specific ethnic groups that sit under the broad ‘White’ category), and how well the DfE’s statistics capture that
• The principal factors that contribute to this underachievement, with reference to:
• The role of place (reflecting regional variations)
• The impact of role models
• The effects of COVID-19 on this group
• The impacts of this underachievement, both for individuals and for communities
• Priorities for the Government in terms of tackling this issue, with reference to:
• The value of locally-tailored solutions, including youth groups and community organisations
• The school system

Research on Disadvantage in the North: The Existing Disadvantage Gap

• The disadvantage gap between school pupils in the North of England and their peers, particularly in Secondary Schools, is a huge and existing challenge for the North. Addressing this is fundamental to closing the skills gap between the North and London.
• Research by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) with Education DataLab published in ‘Educating the North: Driving Ambition Across the Powerhouse (February 2018)[1] and ‘Next Steps for the Northern Powerhouse: A Challenge for the North, and by the North’ (February 2019)[2] covers this in depth. The existing disadvantage gap in the North and its effects is also reflected in detail in the Children Commission’s report, ‘Growing up North’.[3]
• Of particular relevance to this inquiry is the work by Education DataLab on behalf of NPP that has shown that the length of time a pupil is eligible for Pupil Premium has a much greater impact on attainment than having been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at some point during their school career.[4]
• There are parts of the UK, including the Northern Powerhouse, where schools have a significant proportion of their cohort made up of those from long-term disadvantaged backgrounds. Education DataLab have already looked at the impact of long-term disadvantage and concluded: “for pupils who were FSM-eligible on almost every occasion the school census is taken (90% or more of the time), their attainment, relative to the national average, has actually been falling.”[5] If we are to narrow the disadvantage gap, then clearly this group needs to be increasing its performance relative to the national average.
• Education Datalab have undertaken further research which looked to develop the definition of long term disadvantaged pupils to include those with wider demographic indicators of national lower overall attainment. This work broke the disadvantaged cohort down further to show that ethnicity was a key driver behind educational attainment.[6] One conclusion of this and earlier work is that the problem is not isolated to questions specific to place, and wider public services like health and policing, but is in fact an issue in all areas that have largely white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, with impact clear amongst both girls and boys.
• The below illustrate the geographical and regional spread of Secondary Schools with high numbers of disadvantaged pupils in high impact groups, including white working class girls and boys. This shows that two thirds of these schools are in the North of England, with particularly high numbers in the North East, but that there also large concentrations in the West Midlands and in pockets from Essex to Cornwall.

• Regional Breakdown of the number of Secondary Schools (below), with the 10% threshold for long-term disadvantage high impact group, with there still being 5 schools meeting the criteria in Essex, one of the highest authorities in the East of England, through to concentrations such as sixteen in Liverpool and Manchester, not including their surrounding city regions:[7]

The location of these Secondary and Primary schools across England [8]

Accountability of Northern Schools and Teacher Development

• The Fair Schools Index, published by NPP in October 2019,[9] shows that Secondary Schools in the North are unfairly judged, and this needs to be taken into account in accountability measures.
• Once factors such as pupil ethnicity, deprivation and special educational needs are taken into account, a fifth of schools saw their national league table position change by over 500 places. In the North East, schools on average were ranked 361 places higher; in the North West, 107 places higher; and in Yorkshire, 82 places higher. Schools with the highest numbers of long-term disadvantaged children in the country including from Yorkshire and the Humber and North West make the top 10 of all schools.
• This work is relevant to the Committee’s Inquiry. When tackling disadvantage and looking at priorities moving forward, accountability needs to be seen in the environment that schools operate in. Dr Leckie and his colleagues work demonstrates that better than expected outcomes can be achieved, with a number of the best schools in the country on a value added basis teaching largely white working class intakes. These schools are in the cohort of long term disadvantaged schools with children in the lower performing ethnicity groups in work from Education Data Lab, commissioned by NPP. This is also vital to schools and the communities they serve. Schools that are labelled unfairly as underperforming struggle to attract and retain the best teachers. This compounds challenges in many parts of the North of England with particular issues around teacher recruitment and retention.
• Whilst schools remain closed, the gap will widen between disadvantaged children and their peers, and this will cause the schools with white working class intakes to be as a structural disadvantage in achieving attainment for instance for their current Year 10s.

The effects of school shutdown on the disadvantage gap and the rise in Pupil Premium numbers

• There is a significant amount of evidence that existing disadvantaged pupils are those most effected by the lockdown and ongoing school partial closures. This includes newly published work by the Educational Endowment Foundation on the impact of school closures on the attainment gap[10], and survey information from the National Foundation for Educational Research, which shows that pupils on free school meals are more likely to be kept at home as schools return, and were more likely to not be at school before schools shut down[11]
• It is clear that pupils beginning to return to school from June is not alone a sufficient way for addressing the significant existing disadvantage gap now exacerbated by the challenges facing pupils who are now eligible for free school meals either due to temporary changes to their parents circumstances caused by the Covid-19 crisis or those in long term poverty.

• Recent polling carried out by YouGov on behalf of NPP in the North of England shows that tacking tackling education disadvantage and the effects of the shutdown is seen as vital. Of those who gave an opinion, eight out of every ten Northerners support providing extra teaching for children who have fallen behind in school-work during the crisis.[12]

• Overall, Pupil Premium numbers have remained relatively consistent in the years up to 2020 and the Covid-19 crisis. The number of pupils receiving pupil premium in the deprivation element has been falling slightly, from a consistent level of around 1,920,000 from 2014, to 1,850,305 in 2019-20. At the same time as the small decrease in deprivation numbers, the looked after and formally looked after children element has been rising since 2014-15, when it was 86,370 to 111,714 in 2019-20. Overall, there has been a downward trend since 2015-16, when there were 2,075,406 pupils receiving pupil premium, to 2,039,170 in 2019-20 [13]
• This relatively small decrease will clearly not be the case for 2020-21 and at least the immediate future. Even based on current rises in Universal Credit claimants, which is expected to rise following the end of the governments furloughing scheme in October, there will be a dramatic increase in the number of pupils now eligible for Free School Meals. IPPR’s analysis predicts that the economic fallout of the pandemic could leave 1.1 million more people below the pre-Covid poverty line at the end of 2020, including a further 200,000 children.[14]
• The Treasury, as a result of the increases already seen in the levels of benefit claims made, will in England spend more money for Pupil Premium as it is a form of consequential spending to the resulting higher Free School Meals entitlement with its direct cost.
• We have projected a rise in pupils eligible for the disadvantage element of Pupil Premium through an expected increase of at least two hundred thousand. This consequential spending could be between £191 and £269 million in the first year alone, rising to £287 and £404 million for a 300,000 increase, the latter based on modelling done by Manchester Metropolitan University using the assumption of unemployment at 9.8% in the last quarter of 2020, split currently between the primary and secondary sectors at the 2020 rates of £1,345 per primary-aged pupil and £955 per secondary-aged pupil. While it would begin to decline as the recovery begins and those children who have eligibility move on to their next school, it will be significantly higher than previously expected throughout the life of this Parliament.

• It is very important that this is quickly analysed, understood and planned for. The most urgent aspect of this rise is the need for emergency mechanisms for this to go to schools to assist when it is needed most. 

Drive from the North: Opportunity Areas and Partnership working

• Of the 12 Opportunity Areas, announced by the Government in 2016 and 2017, 5 (Blackpool, North Yorkshire coast, Oldham, Bradford and Doncaster) are in the North of England. Opportunity North East, announced in 2018, has particular focus on parts of Tees Valley and Northumberland.
• Long term disadvantage in lower performing ethnic groups including in working class girls and boys is a significant barrier to raising attainment, and in many areas of the North this has affected generations. Opportunity Areas give focus to share learning of what works in raising standards in deprived areas; a focus to tackling social mobility by encouraging local government, the voluntary sector and business to work together to give children the opportunity to achieve their potential.
• A longer-term government commitment to Opportunity Areas was called for by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership in their ‘Educating the North’ report in 2018, in particular in the North East of England,[15] with additional funding for them allocated since.
• Organisations including Right to Succeed have gathered learning from place-based change initiatives, including Opportunity Areas. Lessons from that work for Opportunity Areas reflect that to maximise success:
• There needs to be clearer, more cohesive and more thorough methodology to underpin and plan the work within place and Opportunity Areas.
• To drive change, there needs to be more local voices and more local leadership.
• The geography of Opportunity Areas should be smaller, based on locally defined communities and typically the starting sizes of one or two Local Authority wards.
• That the focus of work should be broader, cradle to career, involving much more interagency work across the local public and community sectors.
• These should be based on international best practice, which emphasises the need for certain conditions to be in place in order for funds to be spent effectively.
• The ability and success of local partnerships, often working with Northern schools, to work successfully in the North to tackle disadvantage is reflected in the Children’s Commissioner’s report ‘Growing up North’, which recommends these approaches are extended throughout Northern communities as part of a coherent plan to help disadvantaged children to succeed.[16]

Policy Solutions and Priorities for Government

1. Opportunity Areas across the North

• To properly tackle disadvantage, especially in post Covid-19 recovery, Opportunity Areas should extended across the North of England.
• These new smart Opportunity Areas should be focused on smaller areas than the original ones based on the evidence base of communities serving long term disadvantaged towns and areas in cities; with more local leadership and a broader focus.
• More Opportunities Areas, ensuring coverage of all disadvantaged areas in the North of England, with the new Opportunity Areas more focused and covering places at which integrated change beyond only education or early years can be achieved.

2. A catch-up premium for the return to school

• This has previously been outlined to the Education Committee Covid-19 response inquiry by NPP, with over 60 Northern Parliamentarians co-signing an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education in support.

• A fund for England, a cost of £700-per-pupil, for timely interventions including tutoring, which could cover up to 30 minutes of tuition, three to five times a week over a six-12 week period. This would require approximately four days of tutor time.
• Funding allocated to schools based on the Free School Meal component of Pupil Premium, with enhancements for those secondary schools with the highest levels of long-term disadvantaged children. If focused on secondary schools, initial budget estimate is around £300 million for England.  Schools would obviously be placed to judge what is needed for disadvantaged pupils- other priorities and mechanisms for catch up in addition to tuition, such as mental health support, may also be required to adjust back to schooling.
• A clear plan backed by funding is needed to bring pupils back into school.
   

3. Northern Universities to be supported by Government to provide capacity in the North for Catch up.

• The proposed National Tutoring Service is welcome, but cannot provide the capacity needed for all the demand face to face, especially in the North of England. Tutor Trust are the only significant provider based and operating in parts of the North of England.
• Members of NPPs Education Committee and Opportunity Areas have been working with Northern Universities, in particular Sheffield Hallam University, on a graduate mentor scheme, where the University would train students and graduates to an accredited level to provide temporary tutor capacity online and in local schools to assist with catch up. Crucially, this model is scalable, and the training can be shared with other Universities for them to run their own local scheme and recruit their own tutors. In addition, there is interest from Business in the Community (BITC), their members and local businesses, for staff to be trained and volunteer on the scheme.
• The scheme would establish a group of trained tutors who can be deployed in all secondary, special, pupil referral and alternative provision settings nationally (if those institutions want to take advantage) under the direction of the institutions’ leadership teams from September 2020 (assuming schools have returned to normality by beginning of September).
• These would provide a broader range of support, in addition to tutoring. Criteria will be established for targeting of pupils who will benefit from this programme and this will be wide ranging for pupils in various categories, with a focus on disadvantaged pupils who are already falling behind.
• The plan is to support the young people to re-engage with their studies in a supportive environment with someone who is there to help them navigate the transition back to full time school but also to help them see the purpose and benefits of doing so.  The graduate mentors will be trained in a trauma informed approach to be aware of the specific needs of pupils at this particular point in time. The graduate mentor will also be closely aligned with a colleague in schools so that this triangular relationship can provide or signpost the range of support that may be required across the range of specific subjects but also other wider needs. The graduate mentor training and subsequent support for pupils will also include career and aspirational advice, organisational skills as well opening up conversations about developing wider skill sets thinking forward to building a CV as they move into year 12 or further study or training. 
• This is planned to be an accredited pathway and will allow participants to follow a pathway into the teaching profession and provide much needed future teacher recruitment into northern schools struggling with teacher recruitment and retention challenges. The EPI illustrates the geographical variation and challenges in teacher recruitment in parts of the North of England, with unequal access to subject-qualified teachers, in areas such as Barnsley and Doncaster.[17]

4. Pupil Premium funding reform and emergency Covid-19 transition measures

• Current statistics show the number of PP eligibility is falling. This is primarily driven by a fall in the FSM component. Clearly this trend will reverse, with a widely expected rise in PP eligibility, driven by the increase in families claiming Universal Credit.
• However, this need, on current arrangements, will not be reflected until 2021. Pupil Premium funding for pupils now eligible for FSM or who become eligible over the summer will not go to schools until September 2021. This is a clear anomaly and if unaddressed will disable schools from the basic funding to tackle disadvantage at the time it is needed most.

Proposal:

• That there are emergency mechanisms set up to ensure the rise in pupil premium funding is allocated to schools much earlier than September 2021, at no additional cost overall to the Treasury than would have been the case in this Parliament.
• Formula to focus on disadvantaged schools: This can be done by a government formula to give more additional PP funding to schools with the highest levels of disadvantage going into the crisis. No school would get less PP allocation than before with a floor level, but those schools most in need of funding would get more than previously to deal with the fact the long term disadvantaged will have fallen furthest behind, including particularly white girls and boys as well as others in lower attaining ethnic groups when compared to others overall.
• School applications by threshold: Schools to identify new PP pupils and ensure that FSMs are applied for. Allocation of fund based on potentially two deadlines- one in October to cover PP funding for Jan to March 2021, with funds allocated to schools in January; and one in the early new year to cover funds from April 2021 onwards. A threshold of, for example 5 or more new PP pupils in a 1 Form Entry School and 10 or more new PP pupils in a 2 Form Entry School.

Northern Powerhouse Education Consortium
5 June 2020

Appendix 1:

July 2020