Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and to close the gap between them and their peers.

In April 2012, pupil premium funding was extended to children eligible for free school meals at any point in the past 6 years.

Pupil premium is paid to schools as they are best placed to assess what additional provision their pupils need.  Ofsted inspections report on how schools use the funding and how it has affected the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils.

Schools are also held to account through performance tables, which include data on:

• the attainment of the pupils who attract the funding
• the progress made by these pupils
• the gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their peers

Funding

Schools will receive £1,480 funding for each child registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

Schools receive £2,570 for any pupil who:

• has been looked after for 1 day or more
• has been adopted from care
• has left care and is under a special guardianship order
• has left care and has a residence order
• has left care and has a child arrangement order

Identifying Disadvantaged Pupils

Eligibility for free school meals is used nationally as the main measure of deprivation at pupil level. 

This data allows schools to identify pupils who have previously attracted pupil premium funding, so support can be accurately targeted. The data can also help schools estimate how much pupil premium funding they will be allocated for budget planning purposes.

Pupil Premium allocations are made based on the January school census.

Accountability

Head Teachers and Governing Bodies/Local Boards are held accountable for the impact of pupil premium funding in the following ways:

• performance tables which show the performance of disadvantaged pupils compared to their peers
• schools are required to publish details online each year of how they are using the pupil premium and the impact it is having on pupil achievement
• the Ofsted inspection framework, where inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, and in particular those who attract the pupil premium

Further Information

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Mrs Tessa Sait or Mrs Sarah King via the school office (01449 766224).

The Local Advisory Board has oversight of the effective use of the funding for the school.

Department for Education, Articles & Advice for Children & Young People