The pupil premium must be used to raise the attainment of eligible pupils and to close the attainment gap between these pupils and others at the school.

However, as long as interventions funded by the pupil premium are demonstrably improving the performance of the pupils in receipt of the grant, schools may spend the money as they see fit.

Furthermore, schools do not need to spend an equal amount on each eligible child, or to only spend a child’s allocation on that child.

It is up to schools to decide how to spend the funding. The purpose of the grant is not only to “close the gap” between eligible pupils and their peers, but also to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

Section 6 of the DfE’s conditions of use for the pupil premium grant 2017 to 2018 says that the grant may be spent:

• For the educational benefit of pupils registered at that school.
• For the benefit of pupils registered at other maintained schools or academies.
• On community facilities, such as services that benefit pupils at the school or their families, or people who live or work locally to the school.

The grant can therefore be used for non-educational items and support for pupils outside school hours if this can be shown to meet the conditions of raising the attainment of eligible pupils and/or closing the attainment gap between those pupils and others.

Our Pupil Premium and Sports Premium Reports can be found in the attachments below.