The pupil premium is additional funding for publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities and to close the gaps between them and their peers.

• Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years
• Pupils who have been adopted from care or have left care
• Children who are looked after by the local authority

Service pupil premium is additional funding for schools, but it is not based on disadvantage. It has been combined into pupil premium payments to make it easier for schools to manage their spending.

Schools get £335 for every pupil with a parent who:

• is serving in HM Forces
• has retired on a pension from the Ministry of Defence

This funding is to help with pastoral support.

It is important to note schools do not have to spend pupil premium so it solely benefits eligible pupils. At BHCS we use it wherever we identify the greatest need. The key Pupil Premium misconceptions or ‘Myths’ as the EEF refer to them are presented below.

As using pupil premium funding to improve QFT is the most effective way to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. By doing so, we will inevitably benefit non-eligible pupils as well.

Myth 1:

“Only eligible children can benefit from Pupil Premium spending”

The Pupil Premium is designed to support schools to raise the attainment of socially disadvantaged children. However, many of the most effective ways to do this – including improving the quality of teaching – will also benefit other groups: that is fine. Likewise, you may wish to direct some forms of targeted academic support or wider strategies towards other pupils with identified needs, for example, those who have or have had a social worker, or those who act as a young carer.

Myth 2:

“The pupil Premium has to be spent on interventions”

There is a strong evidence base showing the impact that high-quality interventions can have on the outcomes of struggling students. However, while interventions may well be one part of an effective Pupil Premium strategy, they are likely to be most effective when deployed alongside efforts to improve whole-class teaching, and attend to wider challenges of learning, such as attendance and behaviour.

Myth 3:

“Pupil Premium spending can be justified using school data alone”

Collecting data about attainment and progress of pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium can help schools identify priorities and target additional support. However, school data cannot tell leaders which approaches or programmes are most likely to be effective to address the needs of their students. That is why school leaders should use high quality external evidence to inform their decision making, alongside the expert knowledge they have of the pupils in their care.

Myth 4:

“The Pupil Premium cannot be used to support education recovery”

Evidence shows that the disadvantaged have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Activity to support those pupils to recover missed learning is an appropriate use of pupil premium funding.

Schools will also receive additional funding to support education recovery through recovery premium. The recovery premium can be spent on a wider cohort of pupils that those who attract the funding, depending on where school leaders think the need is greatest. Schools should consider their use of the funding alongside developing their pupil premium strategy.

See the current 2021/22 - 2023/24 action plan including 2022/23 impact statement here

From February 2023, Brighton Hill Community School has 205 pupils entitled to Pupil Premium funding (15% of the total cohort). The allocation of Pupil Premium funds as a result of this is £210,550. Details of our planned strategy is published on this page and uses the newest DfE PP template introduced in 2021-22. The plan is underpinned by a 3-year strategy to target progress in key areas of Pupil Premium underperformance when compared to:

• National averages as identified from DfE school performance summary data and associated 3-year trends.
• Internal BHCS data including but not limited to:
  • Year 7 CAT4 outcomes
  • PLOA Plex questionnaire outcomes across BHCS year groups
  • Designated assessment and teacher assessment data via Sisra Analytics
  • FFT Aspire Analysis
  • Pupil Engagement with school enrichment activities
  • Parent Engagement with school parents’ & information evenings

As well as stretching and challenging those students that are already excelling in their studies and enrichment opportunities.

We also monitor PP data across a range of headline measures comparing to both the local authority and England outcomes as follows:

Source: https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables

The academic year 2022-23 was the first formal exam season since the Covid pandemic, where national qualification grade boundaries were returned to pre-pandemic equivalents. For this reason the 2019-20 data is not included (the year of Centre Assessed Grades and 1st year of the pandemic where the Department of Education did not hold schools to account or publish institution level data). Similarly the 2020-21 data is not shown (the year of Teacher Assessed Grades and 2nd year of the pandemic). Schools were advised by the Department for Education not to use this data as part of their performance management process.
The academic year 2021-22 saw a return to formal examinations but with grade boundaries adjusted down to account for 'the lost years' of formal schooling due to the pandemic. For this reason the outcomes the Department for Education write in their 'School and college accountability: 2021 to 2022 academic year', policy paper.
'We recognise the uneven impact on schools and colleges of the pandemic and will ensure clear messages are placed on the performance tables to advise caution when drawing conclusions from the 2021 to 2022 data. Qualification results achieved in 2021 to 2022 will also count towards school and college performance measures in future years.'
The 3-year trend provided 2017-18, 2018-19 & 2022-23 is the most comparable data series to show the progress trajectory of the school.
Click the following link for the 'Secondary accountability measures: Guide for maintained secondary schools, academies and free schools - October 2023'

Best practice models, guidance & research from organisations including but not limited to:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium#use-of-the-pupil-premium
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-effective-use-and-accountability
• https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/supporting-the-attainment-of-disadvantaged-pupils-articulating-success-and-good-practice
• https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/supporting-the-attainment-of-disadvantaged-pupils-briefing-for-school-leaders
• https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/pupil-premium-guide