This research was commissioned by Peterborough City Council as a work stream as part of their Closing the Gap project. There is a gap in performance between children from rich and poor backgrounds in many countries, but the gap in the UK is considered to be significant (OECD, 2014; Strand 2014). Work by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has
estimated that there will be 3.5 million UK children living in poverty by 2020 (JRF, 2014).
One strategy to attempt to address the problem was the introduction of The Pupil Premium by the Coalition Government in 2011 to provide additional funding to state funded schools to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers by raising the attainment levels of those children from disadvantaged backgrounds
(Ofsted, 2012)
