Pupil premium is funding to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. Evidence shows that disadvantaged children generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils.

School leaders must read the following guidance to ensure an appropriate strategy is adopted:

• DfE’s ‘Using Pupil Premium: guidance for school leaders’ (February 2024)
• The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) ‘Guide to the Pupil Premium’ (February 2024)

MENU OF APPROACHES

Evidence suggests that pupil premium spending is most effective when schools use a 3-tiered approach (see the EEF Pupil Premium Guide).  

Any activity that is funded using pupil premium must fall under an approach listed in the 'Menu of Approaches' table on page 7 of the DfE's guide above.  These fall within 3 areas:

• High Quality Teaching
• Targeted Academic Support
• Wider Strategies

ONLINE STRATEGY STATEMENT

All schools must publish their Pupil Premium Strategy Statement on their website by 31 December for the current academic year, using the DfE templates.