Pupil Premium
What is Pupil Premium Funding?
The pupil premium is additional funding given to publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers. It is allocated to children from low-income families who are currently known to be eligible for Free School Meals (FSM), Looked after Children, children adopted from care and Service Forces children. It also includes pupils who have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years (known as the Ever 6 FSM measure).
More information regarding Pupil Premium funding can be found at the Gov.uk website accessed here.
Who is eligible for additional Pupil Premium funding?
The government has recently announced that there will be changes to the entitlement criteria for free school meals but this won't be until September 2026. The entitlement criteria listed below is the one that still applies until that time.
The general low income entitlement criteria is -
- Income Support
- Income Based Job Seekers Allowance. Please note the ‘new style’ job seekers allowance is not a qualifying benefit, as this is based upon payment of National Insurance contributions and not the household income
- Income Related Employment and Support Allowance. Please note the ‘new style’ employment and support allowance is not a qualifying benefit, as this is based upon payment of National Insurance contributions and not the household income
- eligible for Child Tax Credit but not Working Tax Credit and the household income (as used by HMRC to assess tax credits) is not more that £16,190. Please note: anyone eligible for Working Tax Credit, or if you have a partner and they receive it, regardless of Income, you will not qualify
- The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- In receipt of the 4 week run on of working tax credit (this is where someone becomes unemployed or reduces their hours and so is no longer entitled to working tax credit but will continue to receive it for a further 4 weeks and is entitled to free meals during that time)
- Universal credit (provided you have an annual net earned household income of no more than £7,400 as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods). Your net earned income is your household income after taxes and deductions and does not include income from Universal Credit or any other benefits you may receive.
Children being fostered are not normally eligible to claim free school meals as the fostering allowance paid is intended to cover the cost of the provision of meals for the child.
For nursery aged children who are registered pupils of a local authority maintained, academy or free school nursery, those who meet the income entitlement criteria are entitled to free school meals on the days they receive education both before and after lunch at the school. To be classed as a pupil at the school they must be permanently registered at the school as their main base. Children who are not main registered at the school (i.e. are a ‘guest’ at the school and main rolled at the nursery provision, or only registered at their nursery provision) cannot claim for a free school meal.
Additional criteria from April 2022 for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)
- Zambrano carers
- families who have no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
- families receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who are also subject to a no recourse to public funds restriction
- a subset of failed asylum seekers supported under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Chen carers
- families holding a BN(O) passport
- spousal visa holders
- work visa holders
- student visa holders
- those with no immigration status
- For all these groups the annual household income must be below £22,700 for a family with one child and below £26,300 for a family with 2 or more children
- In addition to the thresholds mentioned above, families must hold no more than £16,000 in capital and savings.
Families who wish to apply under this criteria will need to complete a different application form and provide supporting evidence. Regular checks will be carried out to confirm that the criteria is still being met, by asking you to provide up to date supporting information. If you no longer meet the eligibility criteria, the free school meals will no longer be provided for your child’.
If you think your child may eligible to receive this additional funding and support but are not sure whether the school are aware of this, please speak in confidence to Mrs Hallows who will be happy to support you in your enquiry.
Alternatively, please access the following website where applications can be made directly to Staffordshire County Council:
How is Pupil Premium used in school?
We use our Pupil Premium to ensure that every learner for which this funding is available is able to access high-quality provision, targeted to their needs and impacting strongly on their progress. We keep this constantly under review, with a dedicated team of professionals assigned to make sure no learner is allowed to fall behind, and that every effort is made to secure their progress. Progress is assessed termly, with provision adapted at least at each of these points in the year to ensure that this crucial funding has the best possible impact for each individual.
We are proud of the provision this creates. For further information, please see our: