Pupil Premium & Free School Meals

What is Pupil Premium?

The Government provides funds to schools to help children from families with lower income, or in challenging situations. This funding is called Pupil Premium.

Pupil Premium is additional to main school funding; evidence suggests that this is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantaged pupils reaches the children who need it the most.

Schools decide how the Pupil Premium is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility. Schools are held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support children from disadvantaged families: read more on the Department for Education website.

Pupils entitled to pupil premium also receive one free after-school club a week.

Applying for Pupil Premium & Free School Meal

As we are based in London, all our pupils from Reception to Year 6 are provided with free school meals until the end of the academic year in 2028. Children will receive their free school meal under either 'universal free school meal' funding (Reception to Year 2), or the Mayor of London scheme (Year 3 to Year 6).

However, it is really important that families complete our school or Hackney Council's registration form because a child may be eligible for extra funding.

Please do ask our office team, who will be able to advise and help you with the application process in confidence.

Eligibility for Pupil Premium & Free School Meal

If you receive any of the following benefits, your child may be eligible for Pupil Premium and free school meals:

• Income support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get).

Check your eligibility if you believe that your child(ren) are eligible for Pupil Premium and free school meals.

Still confused?

Feel free to ask more details to our office team, who will be able to advise and help you with the application process in confidence.