Publicly-funded schools in England get extra funding, called pupil premium, from the government to help them improve the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils. Introduced in April 2011, the pupil premium is allocated to children who are looked after by the local authority, those who have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years (also known as Ever 6 FSM) and for children whose parents are currently serving in the armed forces.

Free School Meals from September 2026

From September 2026, free school meal eligibility is expanding. All children in households receiving Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals.

We strongly encourage all families in receipt of Universal Credit to apply – even if your income has increased, your child may now qualify.

Applying is quick and easy via the Online FSM Application (OFSM).

End of Transitional Protection

Temporary protections, which allowed children to continue receiving free school meals without rechecking eligibility, will end at the close of the 2025–2026 academic year.

From September 2026, all families will need to meet the current eligibility criteria to continue receiving free school meals.

Families who are currently receiving free school meals do not need to take any action at this stage. Eligibility will be automatically rechecked, and schools will confirm eligibility from September 2026.

New FSM Categories from September 2026

Two types of benefit-based free school meals will be introduced:

• Targeted Free School Meals
  Your child may qualify if your household receives Universal Credit and has an annual earned income of £7,400 or less (after tax, excluding benefits).
• Expanded Free School Meals
  Your child may qualify if your household receives Universal Credit.

 

 

The pupil premium grant is designed to allow schools to help disadvantaged pupils by improving their educational outcomes. It’s up to school leaders to decide how to spend the pupil premium. This is because the government believes that school leaders are best-placed to assess their pupils’ needs and use funding to improve attainment.

In line with our school mission, we are committed to encourage every child’s talents and gifts to their full potential, regardless of their social and academic background. It is our intention to allocate pupil premium funding in a way that enables all groups to make outstanding progress. The pupil premium strategy below outlines how we have spent this additional income and the impact that this has had. The strategy is underpinned by the educational research from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), who recommend that schools particularly focus their pupil premium strategy on supporting:

1 – High quality teaching, such as developing high quality teaching across all lessons, including purposeful assessment, feedback and a curriculum which responds to the needs of all pupils.

2 – Targeted academic support, such as academic interventions in class, deployment of teaching assistants, peer tutoring and small group tuition.

3- Wider strategies, such as supporting pupils’ attendance;  social, emotional and behavioural needs in the school day; access to extra-curricular activities and breakfast / meal provision.