Pupil premium funding is one of the most important funding streams in English schools. It is designed to help schools improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and reduce the gap between those pupils and their peers.
For schools, it is not just “extra money”. It is funding with a purpose, conditions, public reporting expectations and moral weight. Schools need to understand the barriers their disadvantaged pupils face, choose evidence-informed approaches, spend the funding well, and review whether those choices are making a difference.
For suppliers, pupil premium can look like an opportunity. Schools publish strategy statements, priorities are visible, and the funding is specifically linked to improving outcomes. But that does not mean suppliers should treat pupil premium as an easy sales route. A school does not need a generic pitch that says “our service supports disadvantaged pupils”. It needs credible help that fits its diagnosis, context, pupils, staffing and wider strategy.
This guide explains how pupil premium funding works, what schools are expected to do with it, the kinds of support that can help, and how suppliers can approach schools responsibly.
What is pupil premium funding?
The pupil premium grant is additional funding for state-funded schools in England. Its purpose is to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
In practice, pupil premium is most commonly associated with pupils who are, or have recently been, eligible for free school meals. There are also related allocations for looked-after children, previously looked-after children and service children, although the exact rules, rates and payment routes vary by category and year.
The key point is that pupil premium is not simply a general school budget top-up. It is funding intended to help schools address disadvantage and improve outcomes. Schools and local authorities must follow the relevant conditions of grant for the financial year.
Because funding rules, rates and categories can change, schools should always check the current official GOV.UK guidance rather than relying on old figures or assumptions.
What is pupil premium meant to achieve?
The central purpose is to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. That includes attainment, but it should not be understood only as test scores. Disadvantage can affect attendance, language, confidence, access to enrichment, homework routines, wellbeing, behaviour, reading, parental engagement, transition, subject choices and readiness for exams.
Good pupil premium strategy asks: what is actually getting in the way for our disadvantaged pupils?
That question matters because disadvantage does not look the same in every school. One school may need to focus on attendance and persistent absence. Another may find that reading fluency is the main barrier. Another may need to improve quality-first teaching, support pupils with SEND, strengthen parental engagement, provide tutoring, develop oracy, improve behaviour routines, or widen access to trips, clubs and careers guidance.
Pupil premium should not be spent on assumptions. It should be spent on diagnosed need.
Who receives pupil premium?
Pupil premium is allocated to schools based on eligible pupils. The main categories usually include disadvantaged pupils recorded through free school meal eligibility, looked-after children, previously looked-after children and service children.
Schools do not receive pupil premium because a pupil is “struggling” in a general sense. They receive it according to eligibility criteria. However, when planning how to use the funding, schools should look at the actual barriers and outcomes for eligible pupils in their own setting.
A pupil may be eligible for pupil premium and achieving highly. Another may not be eligible but still need academic or pastoral support. Schools should avoid reducing pupils to funding labels. Pupil premium is a funding and accountability mechanism, not a complete description of a child.
How do schools know how much pupil premium they receive?
Pupil premium allocations are published by government and calculated according to the rules for the relevant financial year. Schools can check allocations through official funding information and should use current GOV.UK guidance for the most accurate details.
For suppliers, this is important: do not guess a school’s budget from pupil premium alone. A published allocation does not tell you what is uncommitted, what is already planned, what is tied to staffing, what has been spent, or what the school is willing to buy. It only gives part of the picture.
If you are a supplier trying to understand school spending cycles more broadly, read Understanding School Budget Cycles and The School Year Calendar Every Supplier Should Plan Around.
What must schools publish?
Schools that receive pupil premium must publish a pupil premium strategy statement. GOV.UK states that schools receiving pupil premium must publish this statement by 31 December each academic year, using the required template.
The strategy statement should explain:
- the school’s challenges for disadvantaged pupils;
- the intended outcomes;
- how the school intends to spend the funding;
- why those approaches have been chosen;
- how impact will be evaluated;
- the outcomes of previous spending.
This statement is not just a website document. It should reflect the school’s real thinking. A weak statement is often generic: it lists interventions but does not explain the barriers, evidence or intended impact. A strong statement tells a coherent story: this is what our pupils need, this is what we will do, this is why we think it will help, and this is how we will know whether it worked.
For more on statutory website information, see What Schools Are Legally Required to Publish on Their Website.
The three-part approach: teaching, targeted support and wider strategies
The Education Endowment Foundation recommends a tiered approach to pupil premium planning. This means schools should think across three broad areas: high-quality teaching, targeted academic support, and wider strategies.
1. High-quality teaching
This is the foundation. Disadvantaged pupils benefit when everyday teaching is strong: clear explanations, effective modelling, good assessment, responsive teaching, strong routines, subject knowledge, explicit vocabulary teaching, scaffolding, feedback and sufficient practice.
This matters because the majority of pupils’ learning happens in normal lessons, not in withdrawal intervention. If classroom teaching does not address the barrier, intervention may only patch the problem temporarily.
Examples of pupil premium spending linked to high-quality teaching might include:
- teacher CPD on evidence-informed teaching;
- instructional coaching;
- subject-specific curriculum development;
- assessment training;
- reading and vocabulary training across the curriculum;
- adaptive teaching support;
- resources that improve teaching quality when used well;
- staff training on SEND barriers affecting disadvantaged pupils.
For schools, the test is whether the spending improves the quality of learning pupils receive day after day. For suppliers, the question is whether you can genuinely support teaching, not simply provide more content.
2. Targeted academic support
Targeted academic support includes structured help for pupils who need additional input. This might include tutoring, small-group intervention, one-to-one support, reading fluency work, maths catch-up, homework support, mentoring linked to academic goals, or subject-specific exam intervention.
Targeted support works best when it is precise. “Extra maths” is vague. “A six-week intervention on multiplication fluency for Year 5 pupils whose assessment shows weak recall” is much stronger.
Schools should ask:
- Which pupils need this support?
- What exact gap or barrier is being addressed?
- How were pupils selected?
- Who will deliver the support?
- How often will it happen?
- How will it link back to classroom learning?
- How will impact be checked?
For tutoring providers, this is especially important. Schools need more than availability and price. They need clarity about diagnosis, delivery, safeguarding, communication with teachers and evidence of impact. See How Tutoring Providers Can Build School Partnerships.
3. Wider strategies
Wider strategies address non-academic barriers that affect learning. These can include attendance, behaviour, wellbeing, parental engagement, breakfast clubs, enrichment, uniform support, transport, transition, mentoring, careers guidance and access to cultural or extra-curricular opportunities.
This area is sometimes misunderstood. Wider strategies are not a soft add-on. Attendance, sleep, anxiety, hunger, transport, confidence, family engagement and feeling safe at school can all affect whether pupils learn.
Examples might include:
- attendance support and family liaison;
- breakfast provision where hunger is a barrier;
- pastoral mentoring with clear goals;
- support for school trips or enrichment;
- transition support from Year 6 to Year 7;
- behaviour support linked to learning routines;
- parent communication systems;
- wellbeing support where anxiety is affecting attendance or learning.
For more on attendance and wider barriers, see Attendance Strategies That Actually Improve Persistent Absence and School Anxiety and School Avoidance: A Parent’s Guide.
What does “spending pupil premium well” actually mean?
Spending pupil premium well does not mean spending every pound on a visible intervention. It means choosing approaches that are likely to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in that school.
Good spending usually has five features:
- Diagnosis: the school understands the specific barriers pupils face.
- Evidence: the chosen approach is informed by research, professional knowledge and school context.
- Implementation: the plan is realistic and staff know what to do.
- Monitoring: leaders check whether actions are happening as intended.
- Impact review: the school reviews whether outcomes are improving and changes course if needed.
Poor spending often skips one of these steps. A school buys a programme without diagnosing the barrier. A supplier promises impact without explaining implementation. An intervention runs all year but nobody checks whether pupils are improving. A strategy statement lists actions but not outcomes.
The question should always be: what will be different for disadvantaged pupils because of this spending?
Pupil premium is not only for pupils below expected standard
One common mistake is to use pupil premium only for pupils who are visibly behind. Disadvantaged pupils who are meeting expectations may still need attention. Some may be coasting. Some may have high prior attainment but limited progress. Some may lack access to enrichment, confidence, networks, academic language, study habits or subject choices that support long-term outcomes.
A pupil premium strategy should consider:
- low-attaining pupils who need catch-up support;
- middle-attaining pupils who are not making enough progress;
- higher-attaining disadvantaged pupils who need challenge;
- pupils whose attendance is affecting learning;
- pupils with SEND and disadvantage;
- pupils who are academically secure but missing wider opportunities;
- pupils whose confidence, behaviour or wellbeing affects participation.
For schools reviewing progress more broadly, How to Run a Pupil Progress Meeting Efficiently may help structure the conversation.
Who in school is involved in pupil premium decisions?
Pupil premium decisions are usually led by senior leaders, but several people may be involved.
- Headteacher or principal: overall responsibility for school strategy and outcomes.
- Pupil premium lead: coordinates planning, monitoring and reporting.
- School business manager or finance lead: tracks spending and ensures financial controls.
- Governors or trustees: provide scrutiny and challenge.
- SENCO: helps understand needs where disadvantage overlaps with SEND.
- Attendance lead: supports pupils whose absence affects learning.
- Pastoral or behaviour leads: identify wider barriers.
- Subject leaders: identify curriculum and academic gaps.
- Class teachers: know day-to-day learning, confidence and participation.
In a multi-academy trust, the trust may also have a central school improvement team, finance team or trust-wide approach to disadvantaged pupils. Suppliers should not assume the individual school has complete freedom to spend in every category.
For suppliers working with trusts, read What “Approved Supplier” Status Actually Means in a MAT.
How governors and trustees should challenge pupil premium spending
Governors and trustees should not simply ask whether the money has been spent. They should ask whether it is being spent well.
Useful questions include:
- What are the main barriers for disadvantaged pupils in this school?
- How do we know?
- How does the spending address those barriers?
- Which approaches are evidence-informed?
- How are actions being implemented?
- How are teachers being supported?
- How do we know whether interventions are working?
- Which pupils are still not benefiting?
- What has changed since last year?
- Are we stopping anything that is not working?
The strongest governance conversations focus on learning, barriers, implementation and impact — not just whether the published statement is online.
How schools should diagnose barriers before spending
Diagnosis is the most important step. Without it, spending becomes guesswork.
Schools can diagnose barriers by looking at:
- assessment outcomes;
- progress data;
- attendance and punctuality;
- behaviour incidents;
- reading ages and fluency;
- homework completion;
- pupil voice;
- parent communication;
- teacher observations;
- SEND information;
- participation in clubs, trips and enrichment;
- destination data for older pupils;
- transition information from previous schools.
But schools should be careful not to collect more data than they can use. The purpose of diagnosis is action. If the information does not help staff make better decisions, it may only add workload.
What kinds of suppliers can help schools spend pupil premium well?
Many types of organisations can help schools use pupil premium effectively, but only if they are aligned to real needs and can show credible value.
CPD and teaching improvement providers
Because high-quality teaching is central, providers who help improve classroom practice can be relevant. This might include training on explicit instruction, reading across the curriculum, adaptive teaching, assessment, feedback, behaviour routines, or subject-specific pedagogy.
Good CPD providers should explain how training changes practice, how implementation is supported, and how schools can review whether it has made a difference. For more supplier advice, see How CPD Providers Can Get in Front of School Leaders.
Tutoring and intervention providers
Tutoring can support pupils who need targeted academic help, but it must be well matched. Schools need to know which pupils are selected, what diagnostic information is used, how tutors communicate with teachers, and how progress is measured.
Generic tutoring is weaker than targeted tutoring. The more precise the link to pupil need, the stronger the case.
Reading, literacy and numeracy providers
Many schools identify reading, vocabulary, writing, maths fluency or basic numeracy as barriers for disadvantaged pupils. Providers in this area can help if they offer clear assessment, structured intervention, teacher support and evidence-informed resources.
Schools should ask whether the product or service addresses the specific gap: phonics, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, writing stamina, transcription, number facts, reasoning or problem solving.
Attendance and family support providers
Where attendance is a barrier, schools may need help with family engagement, mentoring, early intervention, attendance analysis, pastoral support or persistent absence strategy.
Attendance support should be careful, relational and practical. It should not simply produce more letters. The best work helps schools understand why pupils are absent and what support or challenge is needed.
Wellbeing and mentoring providers
Wellbeing support may be relevant where anxiety, confidence, low motivation, emotional regulation or social difficulties affect learning. However, schools should be cautious about vague wellbeing offers that do not link to educational outcomes or clear need.
Good providers should explain their model, boundaries, safeguarding, staff qualifications, reporting, referral criteria and how impact will be reviewed. See How Wellbeing Providers Can Work With Schools.
SEND specialists
Disadvantage and SEND often overlap. Speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, specialist teachers, occupational therapists and SEND consultants may help schools understand barriers and improve support.
Schools should be clear whether the spending is addressing individual assessments, staff training, whole-school practice, intervention or support planning. Suppliers should avoid presenting SEND support as a simple fix for attainment gaps.
Relevant guides include How to Offer SEND Services to Schools, Working With Schools as a Speech and Language Therapist and How Educational Psychologists Can Build School Partnerships.
Enrichment, clubs and cultural organisations
Pupil premium can sometimes support access to wider opportunities, especially where cost prevents pupils from participating in trips, clubs, music, sport, arts, STEM activities or careers experiences.
However, enrichment spending should still have a rationale. Schools should be able to explain why access matters for those pupils and how it links to confidence, belonging, aspiration, attendance, curriculum or wider development.
Edtech and data providers
Technology can help if it solves a real problem. It can also waste money if it duplicates existing systems or requires staff time the school does not have.
Edtech providers should be clear about implementation, workload, data protection, evidence, staff training, compatibility and how disadvantaged pupils will benefit in practice. See How EdTech Companies Can Reach UK Schools.
What suppliers should never assume about pupil premium
Suppliers should be careful. Pupil premium is public funding for disadvantaged pupils, not a marketing hook.
Do not assume:
- a published pupil premium allocation means money is available now;
- a school with disadvantaged pupils needs your service;
- all disadvantaged pupils have the same barriers;
- pupil premium can be spent on anything vaguely educational;
- your product qualifies simply because it mentions attainment;
- the pupil premium lead is the only decision-maker;
- a school will change its strategy because of a cold email;
- your case study from one school applies everywhere;
- a MAT-approved status guarantees a trust-wide rollout.
The safest and most professional approach is to ask better questions, understand context and show how your offer fits a real barrier.
How suppliers should read a pupil premium strategy statement
A published strategy statement can help suppliers understand a school’s priorities. But it should be read carefully.
Look for:
- the school’s identified challenges;
- the intended outcomes;
- whether priorities are academic, attendance, behaviour, SEND, wellbeing or enrichment related;
- which approaches are already planned;
- what has not worked previously;
- where the school is reviewing impact;
- whether the school is part of a trust;
- whether the statement is current.
Then be honest: does your offer genuinely fit one of those priorities? If it does not, do not force it.
A good outreach message might say:
Hello, I noticed your published pupil premium strategy places emphasis on improving reading fluency in Key Stage 3. We support schools with a structured six-week fluency programme that includes assessment, staff training and review materials. Would it be useful to send a one-page overview for your literacy or pupil premium lead?
This is specific and respectful. It does not say, “You have pupil premium funding, so buy from us.”
What schools should ask suppliers before using pupil premium
Before spending pupil premium with an external provider, schools should ask:
- Which barrier does this address?
- Which pupils will benefit?
- Why is this approach appropriate for our context?
- What evidence supports it?
- How will it be implemented?
- What staff time is required?
- What does it cost now and later?
- How will impact be measured?
- What happens if it does not work?
- Does it create safeguarding, data or workload risks?
- Is it better than improving existing provision?
For a broader due diligence checklist, read What Schools Ask Before Approving a New Supplier.
Common mistakes schools make with pupil premium
Even well-intentioned schools can make mistakes. Common ones include:
- spending based on assumptions rather than diagnosis;
- copying another school’s strategy without considering context;
- focusing only on pupils below expected standard;
- using too many small interventions with little coordination;
- not reviewing impact;
- continuing spending because “we have always done it”;
- not linking pupil premium to the school improvement plan;
- underestimating attendance and wider barriers;
- buying resources without implementation support;
- treating the published strategy statement as a compliance task only.
The solution is not to make pupil premium planning more complicated. It is to make it more disciplined: diagnose, choose, implement, review.
Common mistakes suppliers make with pupil premium
Suppliers also make predictable mistakes.
- Using “pupil premium” as a sales buzzword.
- Sending generic emails to every school with a published strategy statement.
- Claiming impact without evidence.
- Ignoring implementation workload.
- Failing to explain how pupils are selected.
- Not providing safeguarding, insurance or data protection information.
- Assuming the school has unspent funding.
- Contacting too late for the school’s planning cycle.
- Not understanding MAT procurement routes.
- Offering discounts instead of relevance.
Suppliers who avoid these mistakes stand out immediately because they sound like they understand schools.
When is the best time to discuss pupil premium with schools?
Pupil premium planning is linked to the school year, budget cycle and publication deadlines. Schools may review strategies in the summer term, refine them in the autumn term, and publish by the required deadline.
Good supplier timing depends on the offer:
- Spring and early summer: useful for next-year planning, budget conversations and September implementation.
- June and July: useful for finalising support already under discussion, but often too late for complex new proposals.
- September and October: useful for early-year barriers, baseline data and settling issues, but schools are busy.
- November: useful for January interventions and strategy refinement.
- January: useful for mid-year intervention, attendance resets and exam-year support.
If your service needs safeguarding checks, data processing, staff training or trust approval, start early. For a full timing guide, see The School Year Calendar Every Supplier Should Plan Around.
What good evidence looks like
Schools do not need suppliers to overclaim. They need honest, relevant evidence.
Useful evidence might include:
- independent research where available;
- clear explanation of the theory of change;
- case studies from similar schools;
- before-and-after data used carefully;
- teacher or pupil feedback;
- implementation learning;
- retention or attendance impact where relevant;
- examples of pupil work or progress measures;
- limitations as well as strengths.
A supplier does not need to pretend that one programme solves disadvantage. In fact, that claim is usually a red flag. Better to say: this is the specific barrier we address, this is how we do it, this is where it has worked, and this is what schools need to put in place for it to succeed.
How schools should review pupil premium impact
Impact review should be planned from the start. Schools should not wait until the end of the year and then try to work out whether spending helped.
Review can include:
- assessment progress;
- reading or numeracy checks;
- attendance changes;
- behaviour patterns;
- homework completion;
- pupil confidence;
- participation in enrichment;
- teacher feedback;
- parent engagement;
- intervention attendance;
- work samples;
- destination or option data for older pupils.
The review should ask not only “Did outcomes improve?” but also “Was the approach implemented properly?” A good idea implemented weakly may not show impact. A well-run intervention may still fail if it targeted the wrong barrier.
How to avoid intervention overload
Schools can sometimes respond to disadvantage by adding more and more interventions. The result may be a crowded timetable, tired pupils, missed lessons, confused staff and little evidence of impact.
Before adding another intervention, ask:
- Can this be improved through everyday teaching?
- Is an existing intervention already addressing this?
- Will pupils miss important curriculum time?
- Who will coordinate the support?
- How will teachers know what pupils are practising?
- How will support transfer back into class?
- What will we stop if we add this?
Pupil premium strategy should not become a patchwork of disconnected programmes. It should be coherent.
How suppliers can support strategy statements
Suppliers should not write a school’s pupil premium strategy for them. That is the school’s responsibility. But suppliers can help schools articulate how a purchased service fits into a strategy.
A useful supplier can provide:
- a clear description of the barrier addressed;
- intended outcomes;
- implementation steps;
- evidence summary;
- timeline;
- review measures;
- staff roles;
- impact reporting format.
This makes it easier for the school to decide whether the offer fits the strategy and to report on it honestly later.
Special case: looked-after and previously looked-after children
Pupil premium for looked-after and previously looked-after children has particular considerations. Schools should follow current guidance and work with the relevant virtual school, local authority or responsible body where applicable.
For these pupils, support should be especially sensitive and individualised. Needs may relate to attachment, trauma, transitions, attendance, stability, learning gaps, confidence, identity, relationships or access to support. Spending decisions should be guided by the pupil’s plan and professional advice, not generic assumptions.
Suppliers working in this area must be particularly careful about safeguarding, training, confidentiality and claims about impact.
How pupil premium connects to school improvement
Pupil premium should not sit in isolation. It should connect to the school improvement plan, curriculum planning, teaching and learning strategy, attendance work, SEND provision, pastoral systems and staff development.
If the pupil premium statement says reading is a priority, that should connect to curriculum, assessment, intervention, CPD and classroom practice. If attendance is a priority, it should connect to pastoral support, family engagement, behaviour, safeguarding and leadership routines. If high-quality teaching is a priority, it should connect to CPD, coaching, subject leadership and workload.
The best strategies are not long lists. They are aligned systems.
A simple checklist for schools
Before finalising pupil premium spending, schools can ask:
- Have we diagnosed our pupils’ actual barriers?
- Have we looked beyond attainment data?
- Does our plan include high-quality teaching, targeted support and wider strategies?
- Are actions linked to intended outcomes?
- Is implementation realistic?
- Have we considered staff workload?
- Do external providers meet safeguarding and compliance expectations?
- Do governors or trustees understand the strategy?
- Have we planned how impact will be reviewed?
- Are we willing to stop spending that is not working?
A simple checklist for suppliers
Before approaching a school about pupil premium, suppliers should ask themselves:
- Do we understand the school’s published priorities?
- Does our offer genuinely address one of their barriers?
- Can we explain our evidence clearly?
- Can we show how implementation works?
- Can we state the staff time required?
- Can we provide safeguarding, insurance and data documents where relevant?
- Can we explain impact measurement?
- Are we contacting at the right time of year?
- Do we know whether the school is in a MAT?
- Are we avoiding overclaiming?
If the answer is no to several of these, improve the offer before sending the email.
Final thoughts
Pupil premium funding exists to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. That purpose should stay at the centre of every decision.
For schools, spending it well means understanding barriers, choosing evidence-informed approaches, implementing them properly and reviewing impact honestly. It means looking beyond labels and seeing pupils clearly. It means balancing high-quality teaching, targeted academic support and wider strategies.
For suppliers, pupil premium is not a shortcut into school budgets. It is a responsibility. If your service genuinely helps schools address a diagnosed barrier, explain that clearly. Show evidence. Be honest about implementation. Provide compliance documents. Respect timing. Do not overclaim.
The best pupil premium work is not about spending money because it is available. It is about using public funding carefully so that disadvantaged pupils receive better teaching, better support and better opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is pupil premium funding?
Pupil premium is additional funding for state-funded schools in England. Its purpose is to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
Who is eligible for pupil premium?
Eligibility usually includes pupils who are or have recently been eligible for free school meals, looked-after children, previously looked-after children and service children. Schools should check current GOV.UK guidance for exact categories and rules.
Can schools spend pupil premium however they like?
No. Schools must follow the conditions of grant and use the funding to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. They should be able to explain how spending links to identified barriers and intended outcomes.
Do schools have to publish how they spend pupil premium?
Yes. Schools receiving pupil premium must publish a strategy statement by 31 December each academic year using the required template.
What is the EEF tiered approach to pupil premium?
The EEF recommends planning pupil premium across three areas: high-quality teaching, targeted academic support and wider strategies such as attendance, behaviour, wellbeing and parental engagement.
Can pupil premium be used for tutoring?
Yes, tutoring may be appropriate where it addresses a diagnosed academic need. Schools should be clear about which pupils are selected, what gaps are being targeted, how tutoring links to classroom learning and how impact will be reviewed.
Can pupil premium be used for wellbeing support?
It can be appropriate where wellbeing, anxiety, confidence or emotional barriers are affecting learning or attendance. Schools should still define the barrier, choose suitable support and review impact.
Can suppliers contact schools about pupil premium?
Yes, but they should do so responsibly. Suppliers should read the school’s published priorities, explain the specific barrier they address, provide evidence and avoid treating pupil premium as an easy sales hook.
Who decides how pupil premium is spent?
Senior leaders usually lead the strategy, with involvement from pupil premium leads, school business managers, governors or trustees, SENCOs, attendance leads, pastoral staff and subject leaders.
What should governors ask about pupil premium?
Governors should ask what barriers have been identified, how spending addresses them, what evidence supports the approach, whether implementation is strong and how impact is being reviewed.
Can pupil premium be used for school trips or enrichment?
It may be appropriate where lack of access to enrichment is a barrier and the spending supports wider outcomes such as belonging, confidence, curriculum access or aspiration. The rationale should be clear.
What is the biggest mistake suppliers make with pupil premium?
The biggest mistake is using pupil premium as a generic sales angle. Schools need precise, evidence-informed support linked to diagnosed barriers, not broad claims about helping disadvantaged pupils.
