What is Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is allocated to schools to work with pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years (known as Ever 6 FSM). Schools also receive funding for children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months and for children of service personnel.

Why has it been introduced?
The Government believes that The Pupil Premium is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils that need it most.

Who decides on how the money is spent?
In most cases the Pupil Premium Money is paid directly to the school, allocated to them for every child who receives free school meals. The school decides how they can use the funding as they are best placed to assess what the pupil needs.

How are schools accountable for the spending of Pupil Premium?
They are held accountable through:

• Performance tables which show the performance of disadvantaged children compared with their peers
• The new Ofsted framework, where inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, in particular those who receive Pupil Premium.