Clause 61
9:15 pm
Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)
We believe that the bonus system is working well; as I said, it provides a significant improvement in participation and attainment. We do not have independent quantitative evidence about the impact of bonuses. We will consider it in our review of financial support for young people that we announced in the White Paper on social mobility, which was published at the beginning of the year. Anecdotal evidence from providers, particularly those offering the entry to employment programmes or provision targeted at harder-to-help groups has stressed their importance for attention and for maintaining motivation of learning. That is why, at this stage, I would not want to remove the possibility of continuing with bonuses.