How to review your pupil premium policy

Key points to look out for

Below we suggest what might be included in a pupil premium policy, based on the Department for Education's (DfE's) guidance on pupil premium allocations and conditions of grant 2024 to 2025. However, since this policy isn't statutory, it can vary.

It’s not meant as a guide for writing a policy, since that’s your school leaders’ job – instead, use it to give you a sense of what to look for when reviewing it.

Aims and objectives

For example:

• Making sure that all members of the school community understand the purpose of pupil premium and who's eligible
• Setting out how the school will make decisions about the use of the pupil premium
• Setting out the roles and responsibilities of those who manage the pupil premium 

Eligible pupils

An explanation of the categories of pupils eligible for pupil premium, which are:

• Ever 6 and free school meals
• Looked-after children (LAC) and previously looked-after children (PLAC)
• Ever 6 service children

Use of the grant

An explanation of how the school might use the grant. Examples may include:

• Providing extra 1-to-1 or small-group support
• Employing extra teaching assistants (TAs)
• Running catch-up sessions before or after school (for example, for children who need extra help with maths or literacy)
• Providing extra tuition where needed (for example, ahead of national assessments such as SATs or GCSEs)
• Funding educational trips and visits
• Funding English classes for children for whom it's an additional language

Roles and responsibilities

Who will do what under the policy, such as:

• The governing board – monitor the effectiveness of the policy and hold the headteacher to account for its implementation
• The headteacher and SLT – make sure the policy is implemented and adhered to and that it meets stated objectives
• Other staff – implementing the policy and identifying pupils whose attainment isn't improving in response to interventions funded by the pupil premium
• Virtual school heads – responsible for managing pupil premium funding for children looked after by a local authority, and allocating it to schools

Monitoring arrangements

A description of how the governing board will monitor the implementation of the policy.

You might do this through monitoring visits and having a pupil premium link governor.

3 key questions to challenge the policy

You need to ask senior leaders challenging questions when the policy comes to you for approval, so you can be sure that the policy-reviewing process was robust.

1. How is this policy tailored to meet the needs of our pupils receiving the pupil premium?

Ask your school leaders how the policy addresses the specific needs of your pupils. School leaders should be able to identify the primary barriers to attainment for pupils who attract the pupil premium in your school, and how the policy speaks to those needs.

2. Does this policy make it clear to staff and parents/carers how decisions around the use of the pupil premium are made?

For this policy to be effective, it should be clear about how needs are identified and how the pupil premium grant will be used to meet those needs. Look for answers that speak to how the spending strategy is informed by research evidence. 

Your school must make sure its use of pupil premium aligns with the DfE's ‘menu of approaches’. Your school isn't required to allocate funding to every approach on the menu, but any activity funded by the pupil premium grant must fall under 1 of the approaches listed.

Find more information and the menu itself on page 13 of the guidance on using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders.

3. Can you walk us through how staff will monitor the progress and attainment of children receiving the pupil premium in their classes?

Since interventions purchased with the pupil premium grant can be used to benefit all pupils and not just those on the pupil premium, school leaders should be able to describe a system where:

• Teachers can track the progress of pupils in an intervention programme, both as a whole and as a pupil premium cohort
• Teachers can quickly identify and further assist pupils who aren't progressing in response to interventions funded by the pupil premium

Further questions

See more questions to ask when reviewing any policy.

Examples from schools

Primary

• Braunstone Community Primary School, an academy in Leicestershire
• East Wickham Primary Academy, an academy in Bexley (scroll down to find the pupil premium policy)
• Greenfield Primary School, a community school in Barnsley

Secondary

• Wymondham College, an academy in Norfolk
• Blue Coat Church of England School and Music College, an academy in Coventry

Special

• Palatine Primary School, a community school in West Sussex (select the 'Palatine school policies'
• Heltwate School, a community school in Peterborough

Model policy

This model document is not meant as a guide for writing it. Instead, use it to see what a good policy might look like, or to compare with your school's policy:

Download: pupil premium model policy

Our model policy:

• Takes account of relevant requirements, guidance and good practice
• Is approved by Forbes Solicitors
• Is easy to adapt to save your school leaders' time and keep your school compliant