Pupil Premium & Recovery Premium

The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools so they can support their disadvantaged students and close the attainment gap between them and their peers. After prior attainment, poverty is the single most important factor that can impact on a child’s future life chances. Attainment gaps between pupils from low-income families and their more affluent peers persist through all stages of education, including entry into Higher Education. The Government believes that the Pupil Premium grant, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage, reaches the pupils who need it most. 

The Pupil Premium was first introduced in 2011 and is paid into schools. It is allocated to children from low-income families who are currently eligible for free school meals (FSM) and children who have been ‘looked after’ (in the care of the local authority) continuously for more than 6 months. 

The Pupil Premium is also given to schools for children whose parents are currently serving in the armed forces. In 2012 the Government topped up the Pupil Premium to cover those children who have received FSM or been ‘looked after’ at any stage during the last 6 years. 

Recovery premium is part of the government’s package of funding to support pupils whose education has been impacted by COVID-19. 

It is a time-limited grant providing over £300 million of additional funding for state-funded schools in the 2021/22 academic year and £1 billion across the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years. 

It is focused on pupils who are eligible for pupil premium and pupils in specialist settings. 

The schools spend the Pupil Premium and Recovery grants as they see fit and they need to decide what the aim of the grant is for their schools which will depend on context e.g. the school, the teachers (knowledge and experience), the learners (attainment and social background) and the educational outcomes that require improvement. The impact of Pupil Premium and Recovery Premium performance will be undertaken after each assessment point at the end of the term, and a final evaluation will be completed at the end of the academic year, after the GCSE results have been published. 

At The Albion Academy, our Pupil Premium Statement clearly outlines our strategic priorities and how funding is allocated to improve the academic and life chances of eligible students.