Pupil Premium
Look for the PP icon against relevant questions in the GHLL Review
Purpose
The pupil premium grant is funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England. In the financial year 2023-24, pupil premium spending will increase to almost £2.9 billion.
Eligible Schools
The following types of school are eligible to receive an allocation of pupil premium.
Local authority-maintained schools
This includes:
- mainstream infant, primary, middle, junior, secondary and all-through schools serving children in year groups reception to year 11
- schools for children with special educational needs or disabilities
- pupil referral units (PRUs), for children who do not go to a mainstream school
- local authority-maintained hospital schools
Academies, free schools and non-maintained special schools
This includes:
- mainstream academies serving children in year groups reception to year 11
- academies and non-maintained special schools for children with special educational needs or disabilities
- alternative provision (AP) academies, for children who do not go to a mainstream school
Pupil premium is also provided to local authorities for eligible pupils in independent special schools, where the local authority pays full tuition fees.
Pupil eligibility
The following groups are eligible for pupil premium:
- 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 (NRPF)
- 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 financial year 2023-24
This table shows how the pupil premium grant is allocated to schools and local authorities in financial year 2023-24, based on per pupil rates.
| Pupil eligibility criteria | Amount of funding for each primary-aged pupil per year | Amount of funding for each secondary-aged pupil per year | Funding is paid to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years | £1,455 | £1,035 | School |
| Pupils previously looked after by a local authority or other state care | £2,530 | £2,530 | School |
| Children who are looked after by the local authority | £2,530 | £2,530 | Local authority |
The government has permanently extended free school meal (FSM) eligibility to include children in all households with NRPF. These pupils should now be recorded as FSM eligible in the school census and their pupil premium eligibility will follow on from that automatically.
There is separate guidance on providing free school meals to families with NRPF.
From 1 April 2023, pupil premium eligibility for pupils who have been adopted from care or have left care will include children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales.
Funding for looked-after children will be paid to the local authority and should be managed by the virtual school head in consultation with the child’s school.
The pupil premium allocations and conditions of grant for financial year 2023-24 provide further information.
Further information
For more information, read the guidance for school leaders on using pupil premium and the EEF’s guide to using pupil premium.
The allocations and conditions of grant show:
- the funding given to each school
- the totals at national, local authority and parliamentary constituency level
- how pupil premium funding must be spent
Tagged under: pupil premium, PP, DP, ever6, ever5, fsm, improving outcomes, OPS, Online Pupil Survey
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