Disadvantaged and Service Pupils
Disadvantaged learners
The Department for Education (DfE) defines 'disadvantaged' learners as those who are:
- Eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) in the previous six years
- Looked after children for more than six months during the year
- children who were looked after for at least one day during the year or who have ceased to be looked after by a local authority in England and Wales due to adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order, or a residence order.
Schools often equate their Pupil Premium students with their disadvantaged students, though there is a key difference: Pupil Premium includes service children, whereas disadvantaged does not. Information about supporting service children can be found here.
Pupil Premium strategy templates
Schools are required to:
- demonstrate, from the next academic year, how their spending decisions are informed by research evidence
- use the DfE strategy statement templates to publish their pupil premium strategy
Your online statement should explain:
- how much you have been allocated this year
- how you intend to spend the pupil premium
- the rationale for your spending decisions, including the barriers you’re looking to overcome
- the intended impact
- what effect last year’s pupil premium spending had within your school
The length and detail of your online statement should reflect the size of your pupil premium allocation.
3-year strategy
The DfE say you do not have to use the 3-year approach if you do not want to.
They recommend that you:
- take a longer-term approach to planning how to use the grant (for example, over 3 year period)
- update your online statement at least once a year, starting from late in the autumn term
You may find using the 3-year strategy approach makes it easier to plan your:
- spending
- recruitment
- teaching practice
- staff development