Pupil premium (PP) grant provides additional funding for state-funded schools in England to raise the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Schools and local authorities must follow the terms and conditions set out in the pupil premium conditions of grant.

1.Purpose

The pupil premium grant provides funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.

The service pupil premium (SPP) provides support for children and young people of service families. It is combined into pupil premium payments to make it easier for schools to manage their spending. Pupils that the SPP intends to support are not necessarily from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.

The DFE want to support all schools to use the wealth of evidence of ‘what works’, evaluated by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), to use this funding effectively to drive high and rising standards for disadvantaged pupils.

2. Funding criteria

Pupil premium funding is allocated to eligible schools based on the number of:

• pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals, or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (referred to as Ever 6 FSM)
• children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales

Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. It can be used:

• to support other pupils with identified needs, such as those who have or have had a social worker, or who act as a carer
• for whole class interventions which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils

Pupil premium funding is allocated to local authorities based on the number of:

• looked-after children, supported by the local authority
• pupils who meet any of the eligibility criteria and who attend an independent setting, where the local authority pays full tuition fees

For pupils who are looked-after children, funding should be managed by the local authority’s virtual school head (VSH)  in consultation with the child’s school.

3. Funding Rates

Academies, free schools and non-maintained special schools

These include:

• mainstream infant, primary, middle, junior, secondary and all-through academies serving pupils in year groups reception to year 11
• academies and non-maintained special schools for children with special educational needs or disabilities
• alternative provision academies, for children who do not go to a mainstream school

Pupil premium is also provided to local authorities for eligible pupils in independent settings where the local authority pays full tuition fees. It is for the local authority to decide how much of this funding to pass on to the child’s school.

Funding rates for the 2025 to 2026 financial year

This table shows pupil premium grant allocations to schools and local authorities in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, based on per pupil rates.

Funding 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
Children who are looked after by the local authority	£2,630	£2,630	Local authority
Pupils previously looked after by a local authority or other state care	£2,630	£2,630	School
Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years	£1,515	£1,075	School

PP grant must be spent to deliver the objectives and support eligible pupil cohorts as described in sections 2.1 and 2.2 above.

The grant can be spent:

• for the benefit of eligible pupils registered at the academy who meet the funding criteria
• for the benefit of pupils who meet the funding criteria and are registered at other state funded schools - for example, when hosting summer schools which welcome pupils from other schools
• on community services whose provision furthers the benefit of eligible pupils at the academy

Academies do not have to spend PP so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. PP can be used to support other pupils with identified needs, such as those who have or have had a social worker, or who act as a carer. It can also be used for whole class interventions which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils.

For the 2025-2026 financial year St Christophers Academy will receive £46,965

Accountability

Schools must show how they are using their pupil premium effectively:

• by publishing a statement on their website each academic year using the DfE template
• through inspections by Ofsted - inspectors may discuss plans schools have to spend their pupil premium
• through scrutiny of pupil premium plans by governors and trustees

Ofsted’s framework for inspecting local authority children’s services requires inspectors to ask for the virtual school annual report. This report should include details of how the VSH has managed the pupil premium for looked-after children.

Early Years Pupil Premium

Early years providers are any organisation that offers education for children aged under 5, including nurseries and childminders. They’re responsible for:

• identifying which of the children in their care may be eligible for the EYPP
• passing that information on to their local authority

We have attached a form for you to complete so that we can check if you are eligible for EYPP.