Policy Hub
On 28 October 2008, the think tank Policy Exchange published a report (School funding and social justice) which sets out the principles underlying a new national school funding model based on per capita payments which incorporate a ‘pupil premium’.
The pupil premium would see more money attached to pupils from deprived backgrounds, ensuring that schools accepting large numbers of such pupils were properly resourced. In addition, the premium works to incentivise existing schools with a predominantly wealthy intake to broaden their admission policy.
The report sets out a mechanism for calculating the premium, based on postcodes, which takes into account a wide range of factors. It argues that costs would not require tax increases or raids on other departmental budgets.
The report is spilt into three chapters: the first on the theory of the pupil premium, the second on its delivery and the third on its cost.