Pupil Premium
Additional funding paid to schools to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Pupil Premium is additional funding the government provides to schools to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
A school receives Pupil Premium for each pupil who is:
- Eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years (FSM6)
- Looked after by the local authority
- Adopted from care or under a Special Guardianship Order
- A child of armed-forces personnel (a smaller "service" premium)
The funding rate per pupil is set annually by the DfE; primary rates are slightly higher than secondary. Schools must publish a Pupil Premium strategy showing how they spend the money - typically on high-quality teaching, targeted academic support, and wider wellbeing/behaviour interventions.
For parents, Pupil Premium itself isn’t something you apply for directly - if your child is eligible for free school meals, the school receives the funding automatically. But it’s worth checking whether your child qualifies for FSM, because FSM eligibility unlocks both the funding and other benefits like free school trips and uniform support in many schools.
Related guides
More terms starting with P
Pastoral Care
The non-academic support a school provides for pupils' wellbeing, behaviour and personal development.
Persistent Absence
A pupil missing 10% or more of possible school sessions in an academic year.
Progress 8
A measure of how much progress pupils make from the end of primary to the end of GCSE, expressed as a score around zero.