Purpose
The pupil premium grant provides funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
Evidence shows that children from disadvantaged backgrounds:
- generally face extra challenges in reaching their potential at school
- often do not perform as well as their peers
The pupil premium grant is designed to allow schools 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.
Eligible schools
The following types of school are eligible to receive an allocation of pupil premium.
Local authority-maintained schools
These include:
- mainstream infant, primary, middle, junior, secondary and all-through schools serving pupils in year groups reception to year 11
- schools for children with special educational needs or disabilities and general hospital schools
- pupil referral units (PRUs), for children who do not go to a mainstream school
Academies, free schools and non-maintained special schools
These include:
- mainstream infant, primary, middle, junior, secondary and all-through academies serving pupils in year groups reception to year 11
- academies and non-maintained special schools for children with special educational needs or disabilities
- alternative provision academies, for children who do not go to a mainstream school
Pupil premium is also provided to local authorities for eligible pupils in independent settings where the local authority pays full tuition fees. It is for the local authority to decide how much of this funding to pass on to the child’s school.
Funding rates for the 2025 to 2026 financial year
This table shows pupil premium grant allocations to schools and local authorities in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, based on per pupil rates.
| Funding criteria | Amount of funding for each primary-aged pupil per year | Amount of funding for each secondary-aged pupil per year | Funding is paid to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children who are looked after by the local authority | £2,630 | £2,630 | Local authority |
| Pupils previously looked after by a local authority or other state care | £2,630 | £2,630 | School |
| Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years | £1,515 | £1,075 | School |
- Poor attendance %
- Multiple vulnerabilities
- Low income families with limited funds
- Poor pupil behaviour
- Limited speech and language skills
- Low parental engagement
- Low aspirations – fixed mindset
Our aim is to close any gaps in pupil attainment and progress between those children in receipt of pupil premium funding and those children who do not and improve the life opportunities for our disadvantaged pupils.
How will the impact of the Pupil Premium Funding be measured?
- Pupil progress and attainment is monitored at least termly. This allows leaders to compare pupil outcomes for all groups including the disadvantaged pupils and those in receipt of the pupil premium funding in all areas of the curriculum.
- Attendance is monitored weekly by our Attendance officer and procedures are followed to manage poor attendance
- Pupil engagement in extra curricular activities, school visits and residentials
- Pupil voice is used to elicit pupil views
The school's ethos is one of genuine concern and care for all to achieve their fullest potential. Great emphasis is placed on all staff members knowing and understanding every child well, treating children with the utmost respect and empowering them to become responsible, confident and resilient learners in our team. As such, we discuss, monitor and support children's wellbeing needs regularly which informs the cycle of provision.
A Pupil Premium Strategy Review is complete at the end of each term (December, April, July) by Senior Leaders and outcomes are reported to Governors annually.
Effectiveness of PP spending can be viewed on the Pupil Premium Strategy.