Research School Network: The Disadvantage Calculator: Identifying Barriers to Learning How can we identify barriers to learning?

When we encounter a pupil marked as ​‘Pupil Premium’ (PP), it’s easy to assume we understand their challenges. However, disadvantage is complex and multifaceted, affecting students and families in diverse ways.

Understanding Socioeconomic Disadvantage in Education

Strategies such as prioritising PP students for answering questions or marking their books first can raise awareness but don’t fully address how disadvantage impacts their learning. The key is to explore why and how socioeconomic factors affect learning. Without this understanding, interventions are less likely to succeed.

The DfE’s guidance on PP funding encourages schools to identify both academic and non-academic challenges facing disadvantaged pupils. Using diagnostic assessments and both internal and external data helps identify where intervention will have the most impact. At the same time, it’s important to consider that Pupil Premium funds can be used to support other students with identified needs, not just those eligible for funding.

Key questions for educators include:

• What does socioeconomic disadvantage look like in our context?
  
• How does it affect learning in the classroom, and how does this evolve over time?
  

A New Perspective with the Disadvantage Calculator

When I became PP Lead at Wyndham Spencer Academy, I faced the challenge of understanding disadvantage in a new context. While both Birmingham and Derby schools served inner-city populations, the labels didn’t capture the specific challenges our pupils faced. The Wyndham team had implemented a ​‘disadvantage calculator’ to better understand the barriers confronting our families. This tool, although simple, opened the door to important professional discussions, allowing educators to connect and collaborate on the challenges families experienced.

Step 1: The Disadvantage Calculator

The calculator was initially a spreadsheet that captured a range of barriers to learning:

• Pupil Characteristics: SEND, LAC, EAL, social care involvement.
  
• Learning Factors: reading and spelling ages below expectations, not on track for age-related milestones in core subjects, need for speech, language, or communication interventions.

• Family Situation: access to the internet, family support worker engagement, high number of school moves, parental issues (e.g., imprisonment, addiction).

• Attendance: noted when attendance fell below 96%, 90%, or 85%.

The calculator assigned scores based on these factors, and what became clear was the complexity and variety of disadvantage. For example, some pupils with a high score weren’t eligible for PP, while some PP-eligible students had low scores.

This approach aligned with the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) guide (EEF, 2024) to diagnose barriers to learning not only through academic measures but also by recognising social, emotional, and environmental factors.

Schools have adapted the calculator in various ways to reflect their unique contexts. For example, schools serving Roma communities ensured the calculator reflected their specific needs. In some cases, schools made the process more efficient by integrating the calculator into their management information systems.

Step 2: Provision Mapping

The calculator itself was just the beginning. The most important aspect was the conversations it sparked. Teachers and staff were able to use the data to discuss strategies, share insights, and build collective expertise around addressing disadvantage.

The second part of this tool — provision mapping — allowed us to record what was being implemented for each pupil. This included classroom support, targeted academic interventions, and broader resources aligned with the EEF’s Tiered Approach.

The provision map, updated termly, encouraged us to focus on what was within our control, leading to productive conversations about why certain strategies weren’t working and helping us refine our understanding of the root causes of disadvantage.

Building a Culture of Reflection and Collaboration

At Wyndham, we dedicated time each year to reviewing and transferring this understanding from teacher to teacher as pupils moved through the school. This systematic approach ensured continuity in understanding and supporting each pupil.

For school leaders, the calculator also provided a broader view of patterns across the school. It helped us refine our parental engagement strategies and take an informed, deliberate approach to supporting families, especially the most vulnerable.

While the calculator didn’t capture everything, it gave us invaluable insight into the layers of challenges our families faced. By visualising disadvantage, we gained a better understanding of its impact, enabling us to design targeted interventions and improve outcomes for all pupils.

Final Reflection

This journey at Wyndham taught us that unpicking disadvantage is a continuous process.

The calculator was just one tool in a broader effort to strip back labels and better understand the complex barriers our pupils faced. More important than the tool itself was the commitment to ask, again and again: What does disadvantage mean for the pupils in our classroom and fostering a shared mission among staff?

How will you tackle this in your own context?

Further reading

Rowland, M. (2021) Addressing Educational Disadvantage in Schools and Colleges: The Essex Way. John Catt Educational Ltd.

The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium (2024). [online] Education Endowment Foundation. London. Available at: https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfr…;

The Attainment Gap. (2018). [online] Education Endowment Foundation. London : Education Endowment Foundation. Available at: https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/production/documents/support-for-schools/bitesize-support/EEF_Attainment_Gap_Report_2018_-_print.pdf?v=1729436263.

NFER report: Rose, S., Lord, P., Ager, R., Liht, J. and Schwendel, G. (2024). Impact of school closures in Key Stage 1 on attainment and social skills of pupils in Year 4 and Year 5 in academic year 2023/2024. London: Education Endowment Foundation.