Pupil premium

Also called Pupil premium plus, PP, PP+

Extra funding for disadvantaged pupils. Schools must publish how they spend it.

What it is

Pupil premium is additional funding to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils — those eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, children previously looked after, and children of service personnel.

Pupil premium plus is a higher rate for looked-after and previously looked-after children, managed by the Virtual School for children in care.

Where it applies

State schools. It follows the pupil, not the school.

How it works

Schools must publish a pupil premium strategy statement each year setting out how they will spend it and how they will measure the effect.

It is not ring-fenced per child in mainstream — schools spend it on strategies for the disadvantaged cohort. For children in care, pupil premium plus should follow the personal education plan.

Registering for free school meals is what triggers it, which is why registering matters even where meals are provided universally in infant classes.

What you can ask for

Register for free school meals if you are eligible even if your child gets a universal infant meal. It is worth over a thousand pounds a year to the school and unlocks other support.

Ask to read the school's pupil premium strategy statement. It must be on the website.

For a child in care, ask the Virtual School how pupil premium plus is being used for them.

Where to get help

The council's free school meals application. The school's published strategy. The Education Endowment Foundation for what the evidence says works.