The pupil premium is a grant given to schools to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, and to support pupils with parents in the armed forces (this part of it is also known as the service premium).  

Schools receive Pupil Premium funding for:

• all children who are eligible for free school meals (FSM)
• all children who have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years
• all children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months by someone other than their immediate family.

Schools have the freedom to spend the budget in a way they think will best support the raising of attainment for these pupils. We have utilised research from the Sutton Trust EEF toolkit, the Teaching and Learning Toolkit, Ofsted’s report on the pupil premium and Ofsted’s report on pupil premium progress to inform our decisions when allocating this money.

In making provision for the Pupil Premium pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be disadvantaged. We also recognise that not all pupils who are disadvantaged are registered, or qualify for free school meals.

Department for Education
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