What is the Pupil Premium?
Pupil premium is funding to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. Evidence shows that disadvantaged children generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils.
This table shows how pupil premium funding is allocated to schools and local authorities. Allocations are provided on a financial year basis, based on the following pupil eligibility rates.
| Pupil eligibility criteria | Amount of funding for each primary-aged pupil per year | Funding is paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years (including eligible children of families with no recourse to public funds) | £1550 | School |
| Pupils who have been adopted from care or have left care | £2690 | School |
| Children who are looked after by the local authority | £2690 | Local authority |
Schools also receive funding for children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months, and children of service personnel. This is a total of £350 per child This funding is primarily to help with pastoral support. It can also be used to help improve the academic progress of eligible pupils if schools deem this to be a priority.
School leaders are best-placed to assess their pupils’ needs and use funding to improve attainment. It is up to school leaders to decide how to spend the pupil premium.
Tiered approach
Evidence suggests that pupil premium spending is most effective when used across 3 areas.
- High-quality teaching, such as staff professional development.
- Targeted academic support, such as tutoring.
- Wider strategies to address non-academic barriers to success in schools, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support.
Accountability
Schools must be transparent about how they spend their pupil premium so:
- parents, guardians can understand your pupil premium strategy
- governing bodies can see evidence-based practice so they can consider the rationale behind all pupil premium-related decisions
Schools must show how they’re using their pupil premium funding:
- by publishing a statement on their website about how they use their funding and the impact it has on the attainment of disadvantaged pupils
- through inspections by Ofsted
- through published performance tables
You can find a breakdown of our Pupil Premium expenditure and it's impact by reading our Pupil Premium Strategy Statement.