Please click here to see our Pupil Premium Strategy for this academic year

What’s the purpose of pupil premium funding?

Publicly-funded schools in England get extra funding from the government to help them improve the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils. The pupil premium grant is designed to allow schools to help disadvantaged pupils by improving their progress and academic outcomes.

Schools decide which ways of spending this money would have the greatest impact on removing barriers to learning and supporting these groups. School governors challenge the school to ensure we use the money to the best advantage of these children and evaluate the work being undertaken and its impact. The school may use the funding on whole school initiatives, targeted interventions or wider support.

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

• pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals (FSM), 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

From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, the Department for Education (DfE) is delivering an expansion to FSM eligibility to include all pupils from households in receipt of Universal Credit. There will then be 2 categories of FSM:

• Targeted FSM, which continues to be based on the existing £7,400 income threshold
• Expanded FSM, which will apply to meals only, covering pupils who do not qualify for Targeted FSM, but who are in households in receipt of Universal Credit

Following the expansion of FSM, only pupils eligible for Targeted FSM will be part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort. This means that pupils who become eligible for FSM for the first time through the new Expanded FSM category will not attract pupil premium funding.

Pupils who were eligible for FSM before the expansion will continue to be part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort after the expansion. That includes any pupil whose household income increases after the expansion, such that they either lose FSM eligibility altogether or become eligible for FSM through Expanded FSM. Such pupils will remain part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort for 6 years.

Benefits Related Free School Meals                                                                              Schools get £1,550 (2026/2027) for every primary age pupil who claims free school meals, or who has claimed free school meals in the last 6 years.

Your child/ren is eligible if you receive any of the following benefits:

• Universal credit (provided you have a net income of £7400 or less)
• Income support
• Income-based jobseekers’ allowance
• Income-related employment and support allowance
• Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of state pension credit
• Child tax credit, provided that you are not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of £16,190 or less

Looked-after and Previously Looked After Children                          

Schools get £2,690 (2026/2027) for every pupil who has left local authority care through adoption, a special guardianship order or child arrangements order.

Local authorities get the same amount for each child they are looking after; they must work with the school to decide how the money is used to support the child’s Personal Education Plan.

Service Premium                                                                                              

The service premium is not part of the pupil premium as the rules to attract the service premium are different.

Schools get £360 for every pupil with a parent who:

• is serving in HM Forces
• has retired on a pension from the Ministry of Defence                                                                         

This funding is to help with pastoral support.

Please look at the information on the Local Authority website for guidance and help.