Pupil Premium and Recovery Premium
What Is Pupil Premium?
Pupil Premium is a type of funding additional to the main school funding. It is received from the government each academic year and is allocated to some students dependent upon criteria. These criteria are;
Those families who have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last six years. This is sometimes known as ‘the ever six’.
The amount received is £955 per eligible pupil.
Students are eligible for Pupil Premium Plus if they have left Local Authority care because of one of these reasons:
- adoption
- a special guardianship order
- a child arrangements order
- a residence order
If a student has left Local Authority care and is eligible for free school meals, they just receive the Pupil Premium Plus money. (Not Pupil Premium and Pupil Premium Plus).
Those students who have been in local-authority care for 1 day or more are also eligible for Pupil Premium Plus.
The amount received is £2345 per pupil and this reflects the unique challenges these students face at school where they often struggle to perform in line with their peers both at primary and secondary level.
The Service Premium gives schools extra funding to support children and young people with parents in the armed forces. Students attract the premium if they meet the following criteria:
- one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces
- one of their parents served in the regular armed forces in the last 3 years
- one of their parents died while serving in the armed forces and the pupil is in receipt of a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and the War Pensions Scheme (WPS). The amount received is £310 per eligible pupil.
All of these funding mechanisms are there to enable these students to:
- improve their levels of attainment and progress
- close the attainment gaps relative to their peers
- ensure equality of opportunity across the curriculum and beyond
For extra information about eligibility click/tap here.
The Ofsted report on the use of the premium (Pupil Premium: Reference 120197: September 2012) outlined how the premium had been used in 262 schools. This report showed how difficult it often is to disaggregate pupil premium funding from general school funding. It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual students within their responsibility. The benefits of some of these investments will take a few years to work through the school fully.
Recovery Premium
The aim of the Recovery Premium funding it to help pupils catch-up on education they have missed due to the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic. Schools should use this funding for specific activities to support all pupils particularly the disadvantaged and most vulnerable to make up for lost learning time and narrow the gaps in learning.
While funding has been allocated on a per-pupil basis, schools should use the amount available to them as a single total from which to prioritise support for pupils according to their needs.
The Recovery Premium is in addition to the Pupil Premium and the plan below details how school plans to use this funding for the whole school, targeted support and wider areas in line with EEF best practice guidance.
Links
- Pupil Premium Plan 2021-23. 2022 Review
- Pupil Premium Recovery Strategy Statement (September 2023 Update)
- Pupil Premium Recovery Plan 2023-25 (September 2023 Update)