The Pupil Premium
“It is not the funding itself that will improve attainment gaps, but how schools use it.”
Department for Education
The Pupil Premium is additional funding that is paid to schools in respect of their
disadvantaged pupils (pupils who have been registered for free school meals (FSM) at any
point in the last six years, are looked after continuously by the local authority for more than
six months, or are children of service personnel). Schools receive this funding to support
their eligible pupils and narrow the attainment gap between them and their peers.
There is a wide range of existing literature on the Pupil Premium; on how Pupil Premium
interventions are being used to effectively close the attainment gap, as well as several
toolkits which can be used to evaluate and challenge on the effectiveness of this
intervention.
From September 2013, those schools that are judged as requiring improvement will have a
‘Pupil Premium Review’ in their school, supported by another headteacher. In addition,
schools are required by the Department for Education to make public their use of Pupil
Premium funding, and the impact that such funding is having on closing the attainment gap.
This paper brings together good practice guidelines, useful toolkits, and recommended
reading and is intended to provide a short briefing for schools. We welcome feedback on
what schools have found useful, and how schools are effectively using the Pupil Premium.
Using the Pupil Premium effectively
There is no definite answer to ‘what works’ in closing the attainment gap, and this is due that
no single intervention will work for all pupils in all schools. However, there are three core
ingredients which are required to ensure that any intervention funded by the Pupil Premium
is effective. These are:
1. In-school monitoring: evaluations of Pupil Premium spending have shown a
disparity in the monitoring systems that schools have in place to track both the
progress of pupils. A robust monitoring system that is used regularly and intelligently
can help to identify issues, introduce interventions and evaluate the effectiveness of
these interventions.
2. Reflective use of evidence: both internal and external evidence (pupil data and
school experience) must be used to inform practice.
3. Capacity building: in order to ensure effective use of the Pupil Premium, school
leaders, teachers and support staff must be knowledgeable and confident to deliver
interventions. A well-rounded programme of professional learning and development
is therefore needed.
If a school has these three core ingredients, it is more likely to succeed in using the Pupil
Premium effectively. Despite this, there is no single intervention which is going to close the
attainment gap, and if there were, this intervention may not be effective with all pupils in all
settings. However, in those instances where intervention has been effective, they share the
following commonalities:
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There is rigorous monitoring of data and its effective use in feedback, and in the
planning, delivery and evaluation of intervention.
Essex County Council
October 2013
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Pupils have access to high quality teachers.
There is strong and visionary leadership in place within the school.
Interventions have clear success criteria.
The governing body is fully involved in monitoring, reporting and evaluating the Pupil
Premium.
A strong focus on literacy and numeracy, as a way to enable pupils to engage with
the rest of the curriculum.
Ensuring that Pupil Premium funding is not absorbed into the schools’ mainstream
budget, but is tracked and monitoring separately.
There is a ‘Pupil Premium Champion’ who is responsible for the outcomes of those
pupils.
Based on studies that have been conducted to date, it is worth highlighting the following
interventions in greater detail.
Teaching Assistants
Evaluations that had been conducted by Ofsted have found that the indiscriminate use of
teaching assistants represent poor value for money, with little or even negative impact on
pupil attainment. School leaders and governors must be careful when spending Pupil
Premium funding on teaching assistants, and be clear about what they want to achieve.
However, teaching assistants have found to be effective when the school has:
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Ensured that they thoroughly understand their role in helping improve achievement;
Trained their teaching assistants to match the role that they will play;
Extended or revised their hours to enable teaching assistants to work with teachers
to plan and review pupil learning;
Placed the teaching assistants where they are most needed; and
Deployed teaching assistants well to maximise their strengths.
Literacy and numeracy support
As previously mentioned, a strong focus on literacy and numeracy is essential to enabling
pupils to engage in the wider curriculum. In those schools that focused on literacy and
numeracy, standardised scores were collected for every pupil in every year. These scores
were carefully tracked and monitored, with additional support provided for those pupils that
required it.
Attendance and access
There is a causal link between attendance and achievement. Attendance levels for
disadvantaged pupils were monitored closely, and school systems were in place to identify
issues early and introduce targeted interventions (such as the use of breakfast clubs in
primary school). Tackling attendance issues were completed alongside ensuring that pupils
had full access to a broad range of educational experiences, including: residential courses,
sporting events, career advice, and school trips.
Careers information, advice and guidance
Additional support is provided in schools for disadvantaged pupils, ensuring that these pupils
are provided with the best work experience placements. In addition to this, these pupils also
receive a wide range of preparation activities for future life, ranging from access to
vocational courses, one-to-one interview practice to advice on the choices available post-16.
Essex County Council
October 2013
Toolkits, advice and guidance
There is a range of existing material which can support schools in using the Pupil Premium
effectively. Not all of them are covered here, but
Ofsted: The Pupil Premium: analysis and challenge tools for schools, 20131
This short booklet contains a series of tools that schools can use to help them analyse
where the attainment gap lies, and to plan the interventions required to help close this gap.
There are modified versions of the tables used by Ofsted inspectors, these are useful as
self-evaluation aids and can be used to help prepare for a Section 5 or Section 8 inspection.
There is also a set of self-review questions for Governing Bodies, aimed at governors as well
as school leaders and managers.
Sutton Trust - Education Endowment Foundation: Teaching and Learning Toolkit2
The toolkit is a summary of educational research, providing guidance for teachers and
schools on how to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The toolkit currently
covers 33 topics, and each of these are summarised on their average impact, the strength of
the evidence to support this impact, and the cost of the intervention.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation: the role of aspirations, attitudes and behaviour in closing the
educational attainment gap3
This is a useful round-up of a number of studies which have been conducted by the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation. The research concludes that:
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It is not possible to establish a clear causal link between aspirations, attitudes and
behaviours (AABs) and educational outcomes.
Few attempts to address AABs of disadvantaged pupils and their parents have
explicitly attempted to raise attainment or been robustly evaluated.
Existing evidence supports the use of interventions focusing on parental involvement.
Mixed evidence on the impact of extra-curricular activities, mentoring, self-belief and
motivation.
1 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/pupil-premium-analysis-and-challenge-tools-for-schools
2 http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/about-the-toolkit/
3 http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/education-achievement-poverty-summary.pdf
Essex County Council
October 2013
Further reading
Ofsted: how schools are effectively spending the Pupil Premium (2013):
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/pupil-premium-how-schools-are-spending-fundingsuccessfully-maximise-achievement
Ofsted: unseen children, access and achievement (2013):
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/unseen-children-access-and-achievement-20-years
Sutton Trust: NFER Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey analysis (2013):
http://www.suttontrust.com/our-work/research/item/nfer-teacher-voice-omnibus/
National College: closing the gap:
http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/docinfo?id=178276&filename=ctg-how-systemleaders-and-schools-can-work-together-full-report.pdf
You can find out more information online by heading to Essex Schools Infolink:
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Essex County Council
October 2013