Pupil Premium funding was introduced in April 2011, as additional funding for  schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers. Disadvantaged children include:

• those who are looked after by the local authority
• those who have been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) at any point in the last six years (also known as Ever 6 FSM)
• those children whose parents are currently serving in the armed forces

Research has found that the attainment gap between children from deprived backgrounds and their more affluent peers persist through all stages of education, including entry into higher education.  The likelihood of a child eligible for FSM achieving five or more GCSEs at A*-C including English and mathematics is less than one third of a non-FSM pupil.  A child from a non-deprived background is more than twice as likely to go on to study at university as their deprived peer.

The Pupil Premium is paid to schools as they are best placed to assess what additional provision their children need. Schools are held to account and we have to report on what we have spent this additional funding on to benefit our disadvantaged children.