Pupil Premium

Many children from families who receive certain benefits are entitled to a sum of money paid to their school to boost their learning. Introduced in 2011, the pupil premium is a sum of money given to schools each year by the Government to improve the attainment of disadvantaged children. This is based on research showing that children from low income families perform less well at school than their peers.

Often, children who are entitled to pupil premium face challenges such as poor language and communication skills, lack of confidence and issues with attendance and punctuality. The pupil premium is intended to directly benefit the children who are eligible, helping to narrow the gap between them and their classmates. 

Is your child eligible?

Primary schools are given a pupil premium for:

• Children in Reception to Year 6 who are currently entitled to free school meals based on their family income: £1345 per pupil, per school year
• Children in Reception to Year 6 who were previously entitled to benefits-based free school meals, even if they're no longer eligible: £1345 per pupil, per school year, for six years after they stopped qualifying for free school meals
• Children in care: £2345 per pupil, per school year
• Children previously in care who have been adopted, or who have a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order or a residence order: £2345 per pupil, per school year
• Children recorded as being from service families: £310 per pupil, per school year

How to claim your child's pupil premium

All children who currently qualify for free school meals based on their family circumstances are entitled to pupil premium. This applies if you receive any of the following benefits:

• Universal credit (provided you have a net income of £7400 or less)
• Income support
• Income-based jobseekers’ allowance
• Income-related employment and support allowance
• Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of state pension credit
• Child tax credit, provided that you are not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of £16,190 or less

Children who are or have been in care, and children who have a parent who is or was in the armed forces, are also entitled to pupil premium.

In addition, pupils who have qualified for free school meals on the above grounds in the past, but are no longer eligible, continue to receive pupil premium for the next six years.

We are responsible for recording the children who are eligible for pupil premium in our annual school census - you don't have to do anything yourself, other than making sure you return any paperwork that relates to the benefits you receive or your child's entitlement to free school meals.

If your child qualifies for free school meals or has at any point in the past six years, it’s important that you tell us as this enables us to claim pupil premium.

Click to view Swing Gate School's Pupil Premium statement, or a review of the previous academic year:

Pupil Premium Statement 2024-25 (including 2023-24 review)