The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most. Nationally as a group, children who have been eligible for FSM at any point in time have consistently lower educational attainment than those who have never been eligible for FSM.
The level of the premium awarded to the school is at the rate of £1320 per disadvantaged pupil and £2300 for those children who are looked after and those adopted from care or who leave care under a special guardianship order or child arrangements order (formerly known as a residence order).