Ministers have not assessed the impact savage cuts to disability benefits – plunging 250,000 more people into poverty – will have on their school-ready metric, part of Labour’s education opportunity mission.
Sir Keir Starmer has set a target that 75 per cent of children will have a “good” level of development by the time they start school in 2028.
The proportion is currently 68 per cent. But education leaders say reforms to disability benefits could threaten that target.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates 3.2 million families across Great Britain will be affected under plans to tighten personal independence payments.
It says another 250,000 will fall below the poverty line in 2030, including 50,000 children.
But in a parliamentary question, the DfE it had not assessed how this would impact its school readiness target.
‘Short-sighted’
Dan Thomas, the chief executive of the Learning Partnership Academies Trust, called it “short-sighted”.
“Early intervention, that first 1,000 days, if there’s money cut from that through disability benefits we’re going to see an increase in school readiness issues,” he told Schools Week.
Boosting school readiness is one of six “milestones”in Labour’s “plan for change”.
Last year, 67.7 per cent of children were judged to have a “good” level of development across areas such as language, personal development, maths and literacy.
But pupils eligible for free school meals were 20.5 percentage points less likely to reach a “good” level before starting school.
In a poll of more than 2,500 primary teachers by Teacher Tapp, commissioned by Save The Children, 80 per cent said they did not think the government was likely to meet its 75 per cent target by 2028.
This rose to 86 per cent among headteachers.
‘So many different implications’
Barbara Middleton, the head of Shiremoor primary in Newcastle, said the target was not “achievable”.
“A lot of my parents have dyslexia or ADHD. A lot of my children do as well… that could have a huge impact in terms of two or three people in the household who have [benefit] claims that may affect the household income quite significantly.
“There’s so many different implications in terms of their mental health, the stress and anxiety it places upon them.”
Thomas said there was a “massive link between disadvantage and school readiness, but it goes way further than that”.
‘A lot of disadvantage masquerades as additional needs’
Pupils were increasingly “presenting as having additional needs. But because the assessments haven’t taken place – a lot of that disadvantage factor is masquerading as additional needs.”
To counteract this, his trust’s schools were “actively lowering” their age range and setting up internal provision for those not ready for school.
“There’s nowhere for these children to access it if we don’t do that.”
Staff changing nappies diverted from work with children
Middleton said staff at her school, where the lowest age of entry is three, have already changed 600 nappies this year.
“Every time someone changes a nappy, they’re not directly working with children.”
Research by early years charity Kindred Squared also found 51 per cent of parents and 46 per cent of teachers thought the cost-of-living crisis was affecting school readiness, because parents were forced to work longer hours.
Eighty-three per cent of teachers believed the crisis would have a significant impact this year, while 77 per cent thought it would still be felt in the next three to five years.
Meanwhile, Liz Bartholomew, the head of Mayflower primary school in Essex, said the lack of support from wider support services hindered progress. Health visitor services in her area were a “year behind schedule”.
Parents brought four and five-year-olds to school in pushchairs, while other children were not toilet-trained.
‘We can’t adapt without money’
Schools did need to adapt to the changing needs of children, “but we can’t adapt without the money and the resources to do it”, she said.
Lucy Bannister, the head of policy at the anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said benefits’ cuts would impact whole households. “All children should have a good start in life and when vital support is taken away, the whole household feels the impact.”
The DWP and DfE did not want to comment.
In a letter to the education committee earlier this month, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said a “further programme of analysis and consultation with key impacted groups to support development of the proposals” would be done in the coming months.
She said the child poverty taskforce was “looking at all available levers” to reduce hardship.
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