Pupil Premium

What is the Pupil Premium?

Introduced in April 2011 by the government, Pupil Premium provides additional funding to schools to target specific groups of children who are vulnerable to underachievement. It supports disadvantaged pupils and closes the attainment gap between them and their peers. These include pupils from low income families who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years, children in care, and children of armed service personnel.

What are the aims of the Pupil Premium? 

The purpose of the Pupil Premium is to raise the achievement and aspirations of disadvantaged groups of children. The link between free school meal eligibility and underachievement has been recognised. The Pupil Premium seeks to tackle this inequality in educational outcomes. The Premium is intended to help schools to provide targeted support to improve the life chances of children from lower income families and young people who face additional challenges in their lives so that they can reach their full potential.

 

The Recovery Premium, which is reported alongside the Pupil Premium, is part of the government’s package of funding to support pupils whose education has been impacted by COVID-19.

It is a time-limited grant providing over £300 million of additional funding for state-funded schools in the 2021/22 academic year and £1 billion across the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.

It is focused on pupils who are eligible for pupil premium and pupils in specialist settings such as:

• special schools
• special units
• pupil referral units (PRUs)

This is because of the additional impact of the pandemic on these students.