The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, 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 peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.
In most cases, the Pupil Premium is allocated to schools and is clearly identifiable. It is for the school to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent. However, schools will be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families. New measures will be included in the performance tables that will capture the achievement of the pupils covered by the Pupil Premium.