top of page

Pupil Premium (Annual)

The Purpose of Pupil Premium

 

The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.

For pupils from low-income families in non-mainstream settings, it is for the local authority to decide how to allocate the Pupil Premium. For instance it could be allocated to the setting where they are being educated, or held by the local authority to spend specifically on additional educational support to raise the standard of attainment for these pupils. The authority must consult non-mainstream settings about how the Premium for these pupils should be used.

 

The DfE says:

Schools are free to spend the pupil premium as they see fit. However, they will be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families. New measures will be included in the performance tables that will capture the achievement of those deprived pupils covered by the pupil premium.

How can parents and carers contribute to the success of the Pupil Premium scheme?

If your child is eligible for free school meals, it is worth registering them even if they're not going to have the school lunch, and even if they entitled to a free dinner under the governments Universal Infant Free School Meal scheme. It will have a direct impact on the funding and will maximize the support we can provide.

Parental support and involvement is a key factor in raising standards. If you would like help or advice with supporting your child, or if you are unsure how to apply to register for free school meals, please contact Miss Jessica Mansell who is administrator for the Pupil Premium provision.

 

Who is entitled to Free School Meals?

Your child may be entitled to Free School Meals, if you are entitled to receive any of the following:

  • Income Support

  • Income-based Jobseekers Allowance

  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

  • the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit

  • Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)

  • Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

  • Universal Credit

See current Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2023/24 below

Recovery Premium Funding 2023/24

Purpose

Recovery 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.

Eligible schools

This includes Local authority-maintained schools such as ours.

Pupil eligibility

Recovery premium allocations for mainstream schools will be based on pupil premium eligibility. This includes:

  • pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years, including eligible children of families who have no recourse to public funds.

  • children looked after by local authorities, referred to as looked-after children.

  • children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, referred to as previously looked-after children.

 

Funding rates for academic year 2023/24

Recovery premium allocations for academic year 2023/24 will be calculated on a per pupil basis, based on the following rates.

In mainstream education, the rates are:

  • £145 per eligible pupil in primary schools

 

Funding paid to schools.

To ensure that recovery premium is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils, schools must use their recovery premium (and pupil premium) in line with the ‘menu of approaches’ set by the Department for Education.

The menu of approaches can be found in ’Using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders’.

The menu has been developed in line with the EEF’s 3-tiered approach to help schools allocate spending across the following 3 areas:

  • supporting high-quality teaching, such as staff professional development

  • providing targeted academic support, such as tutoring

  • tackling non-academic barriers to academic success, such as difficulties with attendance, behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing

In line with the EEF’s recommended approach, schools should prioritise high-quality teaching, though the exact balance of spending between tiers will vary depending on the specific needs of pupils.

The menu includes tutoring, but recovery premium conditions of grant for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years state that schools must not use the grant to meet their portion of the costs of tuition provided through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP).

Recovery premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend recovery premium so that it solely benefits eligible pupils. Recovery premium can be used to support other pupils with identified needs, such as pupils who have or have had a social worker, or pupils who act as a carer. It can also be used for whole class interventions, for example high-quality teaching, which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils.

High attaining eligible pupils should receive just as much focus as lower attaining eligible pupils when it comes to spending funding. Evidence shows that eligible pupils who are among the highest performers at key stage 2 are more likely than their non-eligible peers to fall behind by key stage 4.

Accountability

Schools must show they are using their recovery premium effectively:

  • by publishing a statement on their website which presents an overview of their pupil premium and recovery premium strategy, and demonstrates that their use of the funding meets the requirements of the conditions of grant

  • through inspections by Ofsted - inspectors may discuss plans schools have to spend their pupil premium and recovery premium funding

  • through scrutiny of pupil premium and recovery premium plans by governors and trustees

  • by declaring that they have spent the funding in line with the conditions of grant (including that it has not been spent on NTP) and can demonstrate this upon request

See current Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2023/24 below

bottom of page