Pupil premium

Pupil Premium 

The pupil premium grant provides funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.

The service pupil premium (SPP) provides support for children and young people of service families. It is combined into pupil premium payments to make it easier for schools to manage their spending. Pupils that the SPP intends to support are not necessarily from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.

We want to support all schools to use the wealth of evidence of ‘what works’, evaluated by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), to use this funding effectively to drive high and rising standards for disadvantaged pupils.

Funding Criteria

Pupil premium funding is allocated to eligible schools based on the number of:

• pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals, or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (referred to as Ever 6 FSM)
• children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales

Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. It can be used:

• to support other pupils with identified needs, such as those who have or have had a social worker, or who act as a carer
• for whole class interventions which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils

Pupil premium funding is allocated to local authorities based on the number of:

• looked-after children, supported by the local authority
• pupils who meet any of the eligibility criteria and who attend an independent setting, where the local authority pays full tuition fees

For pupils who are looked-after children, funding should be managed by the local authority’s virtual school head (VSH)  in consultation with the child’s school.

Pupil Premium – a guide for parents

Is your child eligible for free school meals?

We completely understand that many families struggle day to day, and we aim to do all we reasonably can to support your children and their families.

Pupil Premium is a funding stream from the government that is allocated to schools to help children reach their full potential, regardless of their background or financial situation. 

The funding that schools receive has to be used to enhance the individual learning of each child who qualifies. On this page, there is a pupil premium strategy plan which details and breaks down how the funding is used to do this. 

Students who are eligible and registered for free school meals cannot be identified. 

As a family you are entitled to free school meals if you access:

• income support
• income-based jobseeker’s allowance or Employment and Support Allowance
• support under part VI (6) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit 
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit, provided you have an annual net earned income not exceeding £7,400 (£616.67 per month).

You can register your child for free school meals here.

You can apply as and when the need arises.

If you would like any support with the application, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s school and someone will be happy to help.