Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium Strategy

Pupil Premium at Babington Academy: Our Values & Ethos

Closing the gap is central to everything we do at Babington. We have a moral commitment to ensure that our students from disadvantaged backgrounds have the support to accelerate their progress to achieve their full potential.

Leaders and staff are ambitious for all, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have prioritised high expectations and equal opportunities for all. - Ofsted report (2023)

There is a clear policy and strategy for pupil premium - solution focused - demonstrating a deep understanding of what it means to be disadvantaged. It follows DfE direction and meets Ofsted requirements fully.

Disadvantaged able students are championed. They are set ambitious attainment targets and taught with demanding academic challenge. They are supported exceptionally well to understand their potential, to be aspirant with purpose and signposted access to the experiences and contacts those from more advantaged homes would have. Emotional and social support is also prioritised. - DFE Advisor for Pupil Premium, Dr Carter Wall (Jan, 2021).

Purpose

The pupil premium grant is funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.

Pupil eligibility

The following groups are eligible for pupil premium:

pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals, or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years, including eligible children of families who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF)
children looked after by local authorities, referred to as looked-after children
children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, referred to as previously looked-after children

Funding rates for financial year 2025-26

This table shows how the pupil premium grant is allocated to schools and local authorities in financial year 2025-26, based on per pupil rates:

Pupil eligibility 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	£1,515	£1,075	School
Pupils previously looked after by a local authority or other state care	£2,630	£2,630	School
Children who are looked after by the local authority	£2,630	£2,630	Local authority

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 £350 per eligible pupil in the 2025 to 2026 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

Funding paid to schools

To ensure that pupil premium is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils, schools must use their pupil premium in line with the ‘menu of approaches’ set by the Department for Education. The menu has been developed in line with the EEF’s 3-tiered approach to help school allocate spending across the following 3 areas:

supporting the high-quality teaching, such as staff professional development
providing targeted academic support, such as tutoring, including through the National Tutoring Programme
tackling non-academic barriers to academic success, such as difficulties in attendance, behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing

Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits eligible pupils.

Accountability

Schools must show how they are using their pupil premium effectively:

by publishing a statement on their website which presents an overview of their pupil premium strategy, and demonstrates that their use of the funding meets the requirements of the conditions of grant
through inspections by Ofsted - inspectors may discuss plans schools have to spend their pupil premium
through scrutiny of pupil premium plans by governors and trustees

Schools are also held to account for the outcomes achieved by their disadvantaged pupils through published performance tables.