The pupil premium is additional funding received by schools for each pupil from disadvantaged families or background. It is allocated to school based on the number of children who come from low-income families - this is defined as those who are currently known to be eligible for free school meals. 

It is important to know that a pupil does not need to have a school dinner, but parents/carers must have applied and be entitled if they wanted one. 

It also includes:

• pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the six years
• children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months

First introduced in April 2011, the level of the premium in 2011-12 was £488 per pupil: it increased to £600 per pupil in 2012-13 then to £1300 in 2013-2014 and now stands at £1345 per pupil. This money is for schools to decide how to spend but should be spent in order to improve educational attainment of children from less privileged backgrounds.

This is one of the  government's key education policies. It is based on findings that show that, as a group, children who are eligible for free school meals at any point in time have consistently lower educational attainment than those who have never been eligible for FSM.

Free school meals are available to some children according to family income. 

It’s important to register for entitlement to free school meals, even if your child has a packed lunch.

Children are entitled to Free School Meals if their parents, carers or guardians receive any of the following:

• Income support
• Income based job seekers allowance
• Income related employment and support allowance
• Guarantee pension credit
• Child Tax Credit, but not Working Tax Credit, and an annual income lower than the limit set by the Government
• Working Tax Credit Run On because you have ceased work or reduced  your working hours to less than 16 per week

In making provision for  disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who are  disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. We reserve the right to allocate pupil premium funding to support any pupil or groups of pupils, that we have identified as being disadvantaged.

Department for Education
Articles and advice for children and young people.