Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium Explained
The Pupil Premium is a grant of additional funding provided to schools to support their core budget. It is targeted at children from disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure they benefit from the same opportunities as children from less deprived families.
This academic year (September 2025 – July 2026) the Pupil Premium is worth £1,515 per eligible pupil who is currently in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM). Pupils who have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years are also included (known as Ever 6).
The Pupil Premium grant for Looked After Children (LAC) or Previously Looked After Children (PLAC) is worth £2,630. These are children who are currently in the care of a local authority or who have previously been in care in England.
Free School Meals
Your child may be eligible for free school meals if you are in receipt of any of the following:
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income-related Employment and Support Allowance
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support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
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the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
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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)
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Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
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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)
If you do not apply for Free School Meals when your child is eligible, the school may miss out on valuable funding that supports pupils’ learning and wellbeing. A lower Pupil Premium allocation means that eligible pupils may not benefit from the full range of support available.
All applications are treated confidentially. No other parents or pupils will be aware of who is receiving Free School Meals. If you believe your child may be eligible, please contact the school office on 0121 554 0999 for advice and support with your application.
Pupil Premium Objectives
At William Murdoch Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that all pupils have high aspirations and achieve their full potential. We identify and address barriers to learning at an individual level, ensuring that every pupil receives the support they need to succeed. All pupils are valued equally, and we maintain high expectations for all, tailored to their individual needs and potential.
Our key objective is to close the attainment and progress gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. The school is publicly renowned for offering all our pupils the opportunity to make good to outstanding progress. National data shows that pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding tend to achieve less well than their peers. Our aim is to reduce this gap through targeted support and high-quality teaching.
Many of our children enter school with lower levels of attainment in communication, language, literacy and mathematics. The most common barriers to learning for our Pupil Premium eligible pupils are:
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Emotional wellbeing
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Speech and language development
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Limited vocabulary
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Reduced access to social and cultural experiences
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Reading fluency and comprehension
We address these barriers through targeted interventions and support strategies, ensuring pupils make strong progress and achieve age-related expectations as they move through the school. All interventions are carefully monitored and evaluated to ensure the Pupil Premium funding is used effectively and has a measurable impact on outcomes.
The report below explains how we spent the Pupil Premium last year and outlines our plans for the current academic year.