Pupil Premium
Pupils experience different environments and challenges, and learn about topics related to the curriculum- Ofsted 2023
Waingels is committed to being an exceptional school for all of its students. We aim to ensure that students who are eligible for Pupil Premium funding are given the opportunity to succeed in the pursuit of academic achievement and personal development. Thus, ensuring that the funding is spent effectively and that staff and governors make decisions that aim to narrow the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and those that are not disadvantaged.
Eligibility for pupil premium funding
Pupil Premium information is taken from: Pupil premium: overview - GOV.UK
Purpose
The pupil premium grant provides funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
The service pupil premium (SPP) provides support for children and young people of service families. It is combined into pupil premium payments to make it easier for schools to manage their spending. Pupils that the SPP intends to support are not necessarily from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
We want to support all schools to use the wealth of evidence of ‘what works’, evaluated by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), to use this funding effectively to drive high and rising standards for disadvantaged pupils.
Funding criteria
Pupil premium funding is allocated to eligible schools based on the number of:
- pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals (FSM), or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (referred to as Ever 6 FSM)
- children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales
Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. It can be used:
- to support other pupils with identified needs, such as those who have or have had a social worker, or who act as a carer
- for whole class interventions which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils
Pupil premium funding is allocated to local authorities based on the number of:
- looked-after children, supported by the local authority
- pupils who meet any of the eligibility criteria and who attend an independent setting, where the local authority pays full tuition fees
For pupils who are looked-after children, funding should be managed by the local authority’s virtual school head (VSH) in consultation with the child’s school.
Details of the funding criteria for SPP are outlined in the Service pupil premium section or see below.
Implications of the free school meals expansion on pupil premium
From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, the Department for Education (DfE) is delivering an expansion to FSM eligibility to include all pupils from households in receipt of Universal Credit. There will then be 2 categories of FSM:
- Targeted FSM, which continues to be based on the existing £7,400 income threshold
- Expanded FSM, which will apply to meals only, covering pupils who do not qualify for Targeted FSM, but who are in households in receipt of Universal Credit
Following the expansion of FSM, only pupils eligible for Targeted FSM will be part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort. This means that pupils who become eligible for FSM for the first time through the new Expanded FSM category will not attract pupil premium funding.
Pupils who were eligible for FSM before the expansion will continue to be part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort after the expansion. That includes any pupil whose household income increases after the expansion, such that they either lose FSM eligibility altogether or become eligible for FSM through Expanded FSM. Such pupils will remain part of the Ever 6 FSM cohort for 6 years.
Further information is available on the expansion of free school meals eligibility.
Funding rates for the 2026 to 2027 financial year
This table shows how the pupil premium grant is allocated to schools and local authorities in the 2026 to 2027 financial year, based on per pupil rates.
|
Funding criteria |
Amount of funding for each primary-aged pupil per year |
Amount of funding for each secondary-aged pupil per year |
Funding is paid to |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years |
£1,550 |
£1,100 |
School |
|
Pupils previously looked after by a local authority or other state care |
£2,690 |
£2,690 |
School |
|
Children who are looked after by the local authority |
£2,690 |
£2,690 |
Local authority |
Pupil premium allocations and conditions of grant for the 2026 to 2027 financial year has more information including:
- allocations for each school and the totals at national, local authority and parliamentary constituency level
- how pupil premium funding must be spent
- how allocations are calculated
Service pupil premium
Service pupil premium is additional funding for schools with children and young people of service families.
Pupils in state-funded schools in England attract the service pupil premium grant at the rate of £360 per eligible pupil in the 2026 to 2027 financial year.
Pupils are eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
- one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces (including pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the full-time reserve service) or is in the armed forces of another nation and is stationed in England and they have been registered as a ‘service child’ in the most recent autumn DfE school census
- they do not currently have ‘service child’ status but they have been registered as a ‘service child’ on any DfE school census in the past 6 years
- one of their parents died whilst serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme
This funding is primarily to enable schools to offer pastoral support and help mitigate the negative impact of family mobility or parental deployment. It can also be used to help improve the academic progress of eligible pupils if the school deems this to be a priority.
There is non-statutory guidance on how to understand and address the needs of service pupils in schools.
Funding for looked-after children
Virtual school heads are responsible for managing the funding given to local authorities for the children in their care. They work with schools to ensure the funding is used to help deliver the outcomes identified in the children’s personal education plans, in line with the menu of approaches.
They can pass all the funding on to schools or retain some to fund activities that will benefit a group, or all, of the local authority’s looked-after children.
At Waingels we have used the additional funding provided through the Pupil Premium scheme in a variety of ways, with groups of targeted students to ensure that those supported by the grant are making accelerated progress and that gaps in students’ progress and attainment are closing. Whilst many of the activities are targeted specifically towards students who are entitled to PP, Waingels operates an open-access policy where ever possible.
To find out more about Pupil Premium Funding, please click here to view allocated funding.
You can also contact the school on pupilsupport@waingels.wokingham.sch.uk
Documents & Links
Application for Free School Meals
Pupil Premium Strategy December 2025