Pupil Premium

The Government’s Pupil Premium programme is aimed at ensuring students from lower income families have access to educational opportunities to help them to achieve their full potential. Each year the school receives a sum of money for all eligible students who are registered for free school meals, in Local Authority Care or is the child of Service personnel.

Pupil premium will continue to be based on ever 6 free school meals, whereby pupils recorded as eligible for free school meals at the time of the October census, or at any point in the previous six years, will attract pupil premium funding.

The pupil premium for 2026 to 2027 will include pupils recorded in the October 2026 school census who have had a recorded period of FSM eligibility since January 2020, as well as those first recorded as eligible in October 2025.

Our Pupil Premium strategy is available to view, below.

Changes to Free School Meals

What has changed?

From September, more families will be eligible for free school meals.

If you receive Universal Credit, your child is now likely to qualify, even if you did not qualify before.

Free school meals are not awarded automatically.

You must complete an application and have your eligibility checked in order to receive this support. Please contact the school office if you need support.

Pupils who stop being eligible for FSM when transitional protections end will still receive disadvantage funding through the pupil premium and the National Funding Formula (NFF), since they will still form part of the Ever 6FSM cohort.

Free School Meals

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

• 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
• Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

How does Mossley Hollins spend the Pupil Premium

We aim to use our Pupil Premium funding to bring lasting academic and personal benefit to those students who are on ‘Free School Meals’ or who are ‘Looked after in care’. The way we chose to invest this additional funding reflected the advice we had received from the Department for Education and from the Sutton Trust. To view our plans for Pupil Premium spending, please click on the document below:

Student Support Fund Application Form