EPI calls for a 16-19 student premium to tackle attainment gap for disadvantaged students

A report published today (23 July) by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), supported by Unbound Philanthropy, has called for a 16-19 student premium to tackle the sizeable attainment gap facing disadvantaged 16–19-year-olds.

Building on recent research by EPI which has shown disadvantaged students are 3.2 grades behind their peers by the time they finished 16-19 education, the report makes recommendations to the new government about how a new student premium might work, who would be eligible and the likely costs.

EPI recommends that the student premium should be based on student-level and area-level measures of disadvantage. This would be additional to existing 16-19 funding and would be a fixed, per-student amount received by institutions.

Setting the student premium at an initial rate to match the secondary school pupil premium, the policy would cost around £340 million annually and support 28 per cent of 16-19 year old students.

Policy recommendations

To effectively support disadvantaged students during the 16-19 phase the report proposes:

– The introduction of a student premium for disadvantaged students in 16-19 education, based on eligibility criteria that combine student-level (FSM6) and area-level (IMD) measures of disadvantage

– The student premium is initially pegged to the rate of the secondary school premium to help address the cliff-edge in funding for disadvantaged students at age 16 but that this rate is kept under review

-The Department for Education develops the 16-19 evidence base on what works and at what cost, and uses this to inform the value of the student premium longer-term

-The department should ensure that institutions are automatically able to identify which students are eligible for the student premium and evaluate institutions’ use of the shared data system to ensure it is fit-for-purpose

-16-19 institutions should be held to account by publishing information on how much student premium funding they receive and how they are using it to support their disadvantaged students

-The department should consider a staggered roll-out of the student premium in order to evaluate its effectiveness.

Emily Hunt, associate director for social mobility and vulnerable learners at the Education Policy Institute, said: “With the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers at over 3 grades by the end of 16-19 education, urgent action is needed to prevent these young people from falling further behind their peers.

“There is no justification for the cliff-edge in funding for disadvantage of almost £1,000 at the point students turn 16. Existing funding is insufficient to offset the educational challenges facing 16-19 disadvantaged students, particularly in the context of rising child poverty and the further education sector having seen the largest spending cuts of any education phase since 2010.

“Our report makes the case for a student premium, providing additional targeted funding to institutions, supporting them to tackle these challenges head-on.

“The introduction of a student premium would end the disparity in funding for disadvantage as students transition from secondary school into 16-19 education, sharpen institutions’ focus on disadvantage and support evidence-based solutions to tackling the 16-19 disadvantage gap.”