The Pupil Premium is an allocation of additional funding provided to schools to support specific groups of children who are vulnerable to possible under achievement i.e. through not reaching their full potential or not performing as well as their peers.
The Pupil Premium has one central aim: to raise the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. In doing this, it supports the mission to close the wide and persistent gap in achievement between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers.
These gaps have a profound impact on education and employment outcomes – with higher achievement also tied to better health and well-being throughout our lives beyond education.
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.
Pupil premium funding is allocated to eligible schools based on the number of:
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:
Pupil premium funding is allocated to local authorities based on the number of:
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.
Details of the funding criteria for SPP are outlined in the Service pupil premium section.
From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, the Department for Education (DfE) is delivering an expansion to FSM eligibility to include all pupils from households in receipt of Universal Credit. There will then be 2 categories of FSM:
Following the expansion of FSM, only pupils eligible for Targeted FSM will be part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort. This means that pupils who become eligible for FSM for the first time through the new Expanded FSM category will not attract pupil premium funding.
Pupils who were eligible for FSM before the expansion will continue to be part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort after the expansion. That includes any pupil whose household income increases after the expansion, such that they either lose FSM eligibility altogether or become eligible for FSM through Expanded FSM. Such pupils will remain part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort for 6 years.
Further information is available on the expansion of free school meals eligibility.
Click on the link below to complete a quick and easy on-line application form:
Worcestershire Free School Meals Application Page
This table shows how the pupil premium grant is allocated to schools and local authorities in the 2026 to 2027 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years | £1,550 | £1,100 | School |
| Pupils previously looked after by a local authority or other state care | £2,690 | £2,690 | School |
| Children who are looked after by the local authority | £2,690 | £2,690 | Local authority |
Pupil premium allocations and conditions of grant for the 2026 to 2027 financial year has more information including:
*allocations for each school and the totals at national, local authority and parliamentary constituency level
*how pupil premium funding must be spent
*how allocations are calculated
We have also produced a Free School Meals and Pupil Premium factsheet for Parents and Carers, which is available here:
Overall responsibility for Pupil Premium spending and strategy lies with the Headteacher: Mr. Billy Hutt
To ensure that pupil premium is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils, schools (including local authority virtual schools) must spend their pupil premium grant on evidence-informed activities in line with the ‘menu of approaches’ set by DfE. This does not apply to SPP.
The menu aligns with the EEF’s 3-tiered approach, which helps schools allocate spending across the following areas:
When considering the balance of spending within the 3-tiered model set out in EEF’s guide to the pupil premium, schools should bear in mind that the EEF recommends that approaches which support and promote high-quality teaching in schools should be a top priority for pupil premium spending. However, the exact balance of spending between categories will vary depending on the specific needs of pupils and the relative size of the school’s pupil premium cohort.
High attaining eligible pupils should receive just as much focus as lower attaining eligible pupils when it comes to spending funding. Evidence shows that eligible pupils who are among the highest performers at key stage 2 are more likely than their non-eligible peers to fall behind by key stage 4.
Virtual school heads are responsible for managing the funding given to local authorities for the children in their care. They work with schools to ensure the funding is used to help deliver the outcomes identified in the children’s personal education plans, in line with the menu of approaches.
They can pass all the funding on to schools or retain some to fund activities that will benefit a group, or all, of the local authority’s looked-after children.
Schools must show how they are using their pupil premium effectively:
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.
Schools are also held to account for the outcomes achieved by their disadvantaged pupils through published performance tables.
Pupil Premium Strategy Plan:
At The Coppice, the needs of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium vary greatly across the school, with individuals requiring very different programmes of support based on these needs. We are continually informed by research into the most effective ways to enhance teaching and learning, and ensure that our strategy incorporates approaches that have proven to have the greatest impact on raising attainment. The spending plan determined has been considered carefully alongside the specific needs of the individuals, our existing school development priorities and curriculum plans, with steps taken to ensure the initiative is implemented well through ongoing review, in order to assess the impact of the plan. The current Pupil Premium Strategy Plan can be accessed below:
