Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium
The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011, and is paid by means of a specific grant for children who:
- Are registered as eligible for Free School Meals within the last 6 years
- Have been looked after for 1 day or more
- Are adopted
- Leave care under a Special Guardianship Order, a Residence Order or Child Arrangements Order
- Where the parent self-declares their child’s status to the school, providing supporting evidence (e.g. an adoption order); and
- Where the school records on the January School Census that it has a child on roll who meets the above criteria.
As an upper school, there is also one other 'premium':
Service Premium
Children who have been recorded as having a parent in the armed forces within the last six years are granted the Service Premium.
Strategy
The college’s strategies for using these grants can be read in the strategies and reports below. The Department for Education acknowledges that it is for schools to determine how the grants are used, as they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility. We review each of these strategies during the academic year.
Strategy Overview
The Pupil Premium grant allocation has been spent on a variety of interventions personalised to the need of our pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant and these can be seen on the strategy documents below. As can be seen, these range from help with uniform, trips and other educational essentials to more complex interventions designed to enable all our students reach their potential. Funds have also been allocated to the cost of the school’s support staff who work every day with students and their families. The college is very clear that meeting the emotional needs of students is an important pre-cursor that enables those students to progress in their learning.
Each year we review the impact of how the Pupil Premium Grant was spent and identify priorities for the coming year. Please see the reports for parents statement and selected case studies below.
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2025/26
Pupil premium strategy statement 2025-26
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2024/25
Pupil premium strategy statement 2024 - 25
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2023/24
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2023 - 24
Free School Meals
Pupil premium funding is linked to Free School Meals (FSM) eligibility. From September 2026 FSM rules are expanding, creating two groups for meals and funding.
Free School Meals Eligibility (from September 2026)
- Targeted FSM: For households on Universals Credit with net annual earnings of £7,400 or less (plus legacy benefits) which qualifies the child for free school meals and triggers pupil premium funding
- Expanded FSM: A new category for households receiving Universal Credit with earnings over £7,400 which entitles the child to a free lunch only, without triggering pupil premium funding.
