Ministers will set a target to halve the disadvantage gap by the time children born under this government finish secondary school, as part of a plan to improve the education system in England.
To tackle the achievement gap between pupils from poorer backgrounds and their more affluent peers, the government will reform how schools get targeted disadvantage funding.
The Schools White Paper, set to be published in full on Monday, will also set out two new programmes to tackle the performance of disadvantaged pupils locally in the North East and on the coast.
It comes after details of the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) reforms also forming part of the white paper were leaked on Thursday.
It has been reported that from 2029, EHCPs (education, health and care plan) will be reassessed once children reach the end of primary school, proposals which sparked concern from disability charity Sense who warned that reassessments could increase instability for children and young people.
An EHCP is a legally binding document in the UK for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities that require more support than is normally available in school.
The reforms are expected to introduce a plan with legal footing for all children with Send called Individual Support Plans (ISPs).
Speaking about plans to halve the attainment gap, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “These reforms are a golden opportunity to cut the link between background and success – one that we must seize.
“Our schools have made great strides in recent decades. Yet for too long, many children in our country have been let down by a one-size-fits-all system, denied opportunity because they’re poor or because they have additional needs.
“Our Schools White Paper presents the blueprint for opportunity for the next generation, with an education system that truly serves every child, whatever their needs and wherever in the country they grow up.”
In the latest GCSE results, the disadvantage gap index for year 11s stood at 3.92, according to figures from the Department for Education (DfE).
It had previously narrowed from 4.07 in 2011 to a low of 3.66 in 2019/20 with some small fluctuations in between. It then widened again post-pandemic to the highest it had been in a decade at 3.94 in 2022/23.
The government will also set a new target for attendance to recover 20 million school days a year by the end of 2028/29 compared with 2023/24.
Instead of targeting disadvantage funding based on whether a child is eligible to receive free school meals (FSM), after a consultation, distribution of funding to schools could take into account how low family income is, how long this has been the case, and the place a child lives.
It would also remove the need for families to choose to take up free school meals to be eligible for deprivation funding, in an attempt to cut admin for schools.
The two new programmes, Mission North East and Mission Coastal – will aim to tackle poorer performance for disadvantaged pupils in the areas, including white working-class pupils.
It will be based on the model of the London Challenge, a programme which was introduced to improve schools in London under the Labour government in 2003.
The White Paper will also set out how incentives worth up to £15,000 for newly appointed headteachers to work in parts of the country that need heads.
It will further include a commitment to develop minimum expectations for schools around how they communicate with parents and manage pupils’ transition from primary to secondary school.
The Schools White Paper was originally set to be published in autumn 2025, but was delayed to allow a further period to test Send reforms.
