What is Pupil Premium?

Introduced in 2011, the pupil premium is a sum of money given to schools each year by the Government to improve the attainment of disadvantaged children.

This is based on research showing that children from low income families perform less well at school than their peers. Often, children who are entitled to pupil premium face challenges such as poor language and communication skills, less family support, lack of confidence and issues with attendance and punctuality. The pupil premium is intended to directly benefit the children who are eligible, helping to narrow the gap between them and their classmates.

Is my Child Eligible?

Schools are given a pupil premium for:

• Children who have qualified for free school meals at any point in the past six years. The school receives £1300 for each of these children.
• Children who have been looked after under local authority care for more than one day. These children are awarded a premium of £1900.

How to Claim Free School Meals

Your child may be eligible for free school meals – and accordingly pupil premium – if you receive any of the following benefits:

• 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
• Universal credit

Your child’s school will be able to tell you what you need to do to register your child as eligible.

If your child qualifies for free school meals, it’s important that you tell their school – even if they take a packed lunch – as this enables them to claim pupil premium.

Please read the information below which gives details of our Pupil Premium Grant and how we allocate the funding.