What is the Pupil Premium?

Pupil Premium Overview

Introduced in 2011, the Pupil Premium is additional government funding allocated annually to schools to enhance the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils. This funding initiative is grounded in research demonstrating that children from low-income families typically achieve lower academic outcomes compared to their peers.

Children eligible for Pupil Premium funding often encounter multiple barriers to learning, including underdeveloped language and communication skills, limited family support, reduced confidence levels, and challenges with attendance and punctuality. The Pupil Premium is specifically designed to provide targeted support for these eligible pupils, with the primary objective of narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their classmates.

Is Your Child Eligible?

Schools receive pupil premium funding for:

The 2025-26 rates represent a 2.39% increase in line with inflation forecasts.

How is Pupil Premium Spent?

Schools can choose how to spend their pupil premium money, as they are best placed to identify what would be of most benefit to the children who are eligible.

Evidence-based approaches that schools commonly use include:

Academic Support:

• Extra one-to-one or small-group support for children within the classroom
• Employing additional teaching assistants to work with classes
• Running catch-up sessions before or after school for children who need extra help with maths or literacy
• Providing extra tuition for able children who receive pupil premium, for example, in preparation for SATs
• Funding English classes for children who speak another language at home

Wider Strategies:

• Running a school breakfast club to improve attendance
• Providing music lessons for children whose families would be unable to pay for them
• Funding educational trips and visits
• Paying for additional support such as speech and language therapy
• Investing in resources that boost children's learning, such as laptops or tablets

Research shows that the fund helps narrow the gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers, particularly in English and Mathematics. Often, all children in a class benefit from how the school spends its pupil premium - for example, when funding is used for an additional teaching assistant who works across the whole class.

How to Register Your Child for Free School Meals (and Pupil Premium)

Your child may be eligible for free school meals – and accordingly pupil premium – if you receive any of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you're not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
• Universal Credit (if you apply on or after 1 April 2018, your household income must be less than £7,400 a year after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Children who receive these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

Universal Infant Free School Meals

All children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 are automatically eligible for free school meals, regardless of their family income. However, if your family meets the eligibility criteria above, it's still important to register, as this enables the school to claim pupil premium funding.

Why Registration Matters

Even if your child takes a packed lunch, please register if you're eligible - this enables Sparken Hill Academy to claim vital pupil premium funding that directly benefits your child's education.

How to Apply

Contact Sparken Hill Academy directly, and we'll guide you through the simple registration process. We can advise you on exactly what you need to do to register your child as eligible.

Important Notes

• Ever 6 FSM: Once registered, your child continues to attract pupil premium funding for up to 6 years, even if your circumstances change
• Confidential process: All applications are handled confidentially
• No stigma: Free school meal eligibility is common - around 25.7% of pupils nationally are eligible
• Multiple benefits: Registration can also provide access to other support, such as help with uniform costs and school trips

For more information or to begin the registration process, please contact the main office at Sparken Hill Academy.