Pupil Premium

What is Pupil Premium?

Pupil Premium is additional government funding provided to schools to help improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children and ensure that they have every opportunity to achieve well.

At Christleton Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that every child can be the best they can be. We use Pupil Premium funding carefully and strategically to help remove barriers to learning, strengthen high-quality teaching and provide appropriate academic, pastoral and wider opportunities for our children.

Pupil Premium is not a personal budget allocated to an individual child. Schools are responsible for deciding how the funding is best used, based on the needs of eligible and disadvantaged pupils and evidence about what is most likely to make a positive difference.

Who attracts Pupil Premium funding?

Pupil Premium funding is provided in respect of particular groups of children. These include:

• children who are currently eligible for Targeted Free School Meals, or who have been eligible for qualifying free school meals at any point during the previous six years (known as Ever 6);

• children who are looked after by a local authority; and

• children who were previously looked after by a local authority or other state care and subsequently left care through adoption, a Special Guardianship Order or a Child Arrangements Order.

If your child was previously looked after and you have not already made the school aware of this, please contact us in confidence so that we can ensure that any appropriate support and funding is available.

Service children

There is also separate Service Pupil Premium funding for eligible children from Armed Forces families. This includes some children whose parent is currently serving, children who have been recorded as a service child during the previous six years and, in certain circumstances, children whose parent died while serving.

Free School Meals and Pupil Premium – important information from September 2026

From September 2026, the eligibility rules for Free School Meals have changed.

All children from households receiving Universal Credit can apply for Free School Meals. However, there are now two categories:

Targeted Free School Meals – for eligible households, including those receiving Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less. Children in this category can attract Pupil Premium funding.

Expanded Free School Meals – for children from households receiving Universal Credit whose earnings are above the Targeted FSM threshold. These children are entitled to a free school meal, but this category does not itself attract Pupil Premium funding.

Other families may also qualify for Targeted Free School Meals, including some households receiving Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, the Guarantee element of Pension Credit or support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Different arrangements can also apply to some families with no recourse to public funds.

As eligibility rules can change, we recommend checking the latest information and applying through the Cheshire West and Chester Council Free School Meals service.

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals, regardless of family income.

However, receiving a Universal Infant Free School Meal does not automatically mean that the school receives Pupil Premium funding for your child.

If you think your family may meet the Targeted Free School Meals criteria, it is therefore very important that you still apply. A successful application can help the school access additional funding to support children's education.