Pupil Premium

PUPIL PREMIUM IS A DESIGNATED AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT THE GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES TO EACH SCHOOL, BASED UPON A NUMBER OF FACTORS WHICH ARE LINKED TO THE PERCEIVED DEPRIVATION OF CERTAIN PUPILS IN SCHOOL.

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.

Pupil Premium is extra funding that schools receive to support children from lower-income families.

Importantly, being entitled to a free school meal does not automatically mean that your child attracts Pupil Premium funding.

Children who meet the lower-income criteria, and children who have been eligible for benefits-related free school meals during the last six years, can attract additional funding for their school.

For 2026–27, this is:

£1,550 per eligible primary school child.

We use Pupil Premium funding to provide additional support and opportunities for eligible pupils.

IS YOUR CHILD ELIGIBLE?

If your family receives Universal Credit, your child may now be entitled to a free school meal, even if your household income is above the previous eligibility limit.

Who can get free school meals?

Your child may be eligible if:

  • You receive Universal Credit.
  • You receive certain other benefits, including Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.
  • Your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 – all children in these year groups receive a free school meal automatically.
  • Your family has No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and meets the relevant income criteria.

Children who have been looked after under local authority care for more than one day. These children are awarded a premium of  £2690.

For service children, the school is awarded a premium of apporximatley £360 per child.

HOW IS IT SPENT?

Schools can choose how to spend their pupil premium money, as they are best placed to identify what would be of most benefit to the children who are eligible.

Common ways in which schools spend their pupil premium fund include:

  • Extra one-to-one or small-group support for children within the classroom.
  • Employing extra teaching assistants to work with classes.
  • Running catch-up sessions before or after school, for example for children who need extra help with maths or literacy.
  • Running a school breakfast club to improve attendance.
  • Providing music lessons for children whose families would be unable to pay for them.
  • Partially funding educational trips and visits.
  • Paying for additional help such as speech and language therapy or family therapy.
  • Funding English classes for children who speak another language at home.
  • Investing in resources that boost children’s learning, such as laptops or tablets.
  • Often, all of the children in a class will reap some benefit from how the school spends its pupil premium: for example, if the money is used to fund an additional teaching assistant who works across the whole class, rather than providing one-to-one support. But research shows that the fund does help to narrow gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers, particularly in English and maths.

Please see the Pupil Premium Strategy in the files below for more information relating to the funding and how children and families are supported.

 

If you have any questions about Pupil Premium, please ask to speak to our Pupil Premium Leader, Mrs Gough, who will be able to explain further.

 

CAN YOU INFLUENCE HOW THE PUPIL PREMIUM IS USED?

There is no obligation for a school to consult you about how they use the money they claim for your child, although some schools may involve parents. However, schools do have to show that they are using their pupil premium fund appropriately. This is measured through Ofsted inspections and annual performance tables showing the progress made by children who are eligible for pupil premium. In addition, they have to publish details online, including how much money they have been allocated, how they intend to spend it, how they spent their previous year’s allocation and how it made a difference to the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR CHILD’S PUPIL PREMIUM

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

  • our child may be entitled to benefits-related free school meals if you receive one of the following benefits:

    • Income Support
    • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
    • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
    • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
    • The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
    • Child Tax Credit, provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and your annual gross income is no more than £16,190
    • Working Tax Credit run-on, paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

    Universal Credit

    From September 2026, the free school meals rules are changing.

    If you receive Universal Credit, your child will be eligible for free school meals regardless of your household earnings.

    However, the rules for Pupil Premium funding are different. To attract Pupil Premium funding, your household's net earned income must be £7,400 or less per year (after tax and excluding benefits).

    This means that some children may be entitled to a free school meal but will not attract Pupil Premium funding for their school.

    Why does this matter?

    Even if your child is already entitled to a free school meal, please make sure you register if you think you may be eligible for benefits-related free school meals. This can help our school access Pupil Premium funding, which we use to provide additional support and opportunities for eligible pupils.

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

Your child may also get free school meals if you get any of these benefits and your child is both:

If you do not qualify for most benefits (also known as having ‘no recourse to public funds’), your child may still be eligible for free school meals. Ask their school or local authority whether they’re eligible.

Infant free school meals in England

Your child will be able to get free school meals if they’re in a government-funded school and in:

    • Reception class
    • Year 1
    • Year 2

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

Files to Download

Pupil Premium Policy Pupil Premium strategy 2025-2026