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Pupil Premium

Additional funding provided by the government to help close the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers.

The funding is used to support students’ academic progress, wellbeing, and access to wider opportunities so that all students can achieve their full potential.

WUS Pupil Premium Strategy Statement

Who Qualifies for Pupil Premium Funding?

Schools receive Pupil Premium funding for students who meet specific criteria set by the government.

This includes students who are:

Currently eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)
Looked After Children (in the care of the local authority)
Have been eligible for Free School Meals at any point in the last six years (Ever 6)
Previously Looked After Children (e.g. adopted or under a special guardianship order)
Children with parents serving in the armed forces

At Wootton Academy, our approach to Pupil Premium is carefully aligned with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) three-tiered model, ensuring that funding is used strategically to have the greatest possible impact on student outcomes.

We focus on three key areas:

High-quality teaching

We prioritise excellent classroom practice through ongoing professional development, strong subject expertise, and a focus on recruitment and retention. We believe that consistently high-quality teaching has the greatest impact on all students, particularly those who are disadvantaged.

Targeted academic support

We provide carefully planned interventions, including one-to-one and small group support, to help students address gaps in knowledge and make strong academic progress.

Removing barriers to success

We recognise that learning is influenced by a range of wider factors. We therefore invest in support for attendance, behaviour, and students’ social and emotional wellbeing to ensure they are ready to learn and able to succeed.

Through this structured and evidence-informed approach, we aim to ensure that all students at Wootton Academy are fully supported to achieve their potential.

Pupil Premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend Pupil Premium so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. It can be used:

to support other pupils with identified needs, such as those who have or have had a social worker, or who act as a carer
for whole class interventions which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils

Update to Free School Meals (from September 2026)

From the start of the 2026–2027 academic year, the Department for Education will expand eligibility for Free School Meals to include all pupils from households in receipt of Universal Credit.

There will be two categories of Free School Meals:

Targeted FSM – based on the existing £7,400 income threshold
Expanded FSM – for pupils in households receiving Universal Credit who do not meet the threshold for Targeted FSM (this applies to meal eligibility only)

It is important to note that:

Only pupils eligible for Targeted FSM will be included in the Ever 6 FSM group and will therefore attract Pupil Premium funding
Pupils who become eligible under Expanded FSM will not receive Pupil Premium funding
Pupils who were eligible for FSM before the expansion will continue to be part of the Ever 6 FSM group for six years, even if their circumstances change