Speaker: Professor Liz Todd (Newcastle University) - Title: Pupil Premium: Closing the gap for disadvantaged young people?

Research carried out by BMRB-TNS (a social research agency), and Newcastle and Manchester Universities looked at how schools (primary, secondary and special) spent Pupil Premium funds (and future plans), how they decided to spend the Pupil Premium, differences in spending patterns between schools with different characteristics, and school perceptions of the impact of Pupil Premium funding so far. The seminar focuses on the findings from 30 case study schools (primary, secondary and special) across England. Case study co-authors are Liz Todd, Alan Dyson, Kirstin Kerr and Karen Laing. The BMRB-TNS survey of 1,240 schools will also be referred to. Our findings consider: the ways schools define and cater for disadvantage what they base decisions on to spend the Pupil Premium (in terms of evidence of effectiveness within their school the varied and sophisticated systems that they use to evaluate the spending. Overall we found (in contrast to some previous reports in this field) that schools responses to disadvantage are well-organised and well-conceptualised. These findings are discussed in the context of previous initiatives in the UK and in other parts of Europe.