The Pupil Premium is an amount of money allocated by the government to schools for:
- Children of statutory school age from low income families who are known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM)
- Children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months
- Children whose parents are currently working in the armed forces
In 2013/2014 the level of the Pupil Premium was £900, in 2014/2015 the level of premium was raised to £1300 per pupil and currently stands at £1455 per pupil (2023/2024).
The DfE offer the following guidance on how the Pupil Premium is to be spent: ‘In most cases the Pupil Premium is allocated to schools and is clearly identifiable. It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium, allocated to schools per FSM pupil, is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility…[Schools] will be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support pupils from low income families.
The purpose of the information on this page is to inform parents, carers and other key stakeholders how much Pupil Premium has been received by the school, how it will be spent and the impact previous spending has had on pupils’ achievement including social and emotional wellbeing which is a significant barrier to learning for many disadvantaged pupils.
Historically, Buckingham Primary Academy has had a higher than average number of pupils eligible for Free School Meals, for example 38% of pupils were eligible for Free School Meals in 2013 which was significantly higher than the National Average of 26.7% at that time.
In recent years there were approximately 27.1%* of pupils eligible for Free School Meals which was above average when compared to data captured in the Department for Education’s (DfE) Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2020.
Currently, there are approximately 40.40%* of pupils eligible for Free School Meals, which is above average (23.8%) when compared to data captured in the DfE report Schools, pupils and their characteristics: June 2023
*(Based on data from Get Information about Schools which shows whether a pupil’s family have claimed eligibility for free school meals as reported in the annual spring school census. Parents and carers are able to claim free school meals if they receive a qualifying benefit).
