Children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are well-known to underperform at school, leading to reduced opportunities in later life. In order to redress the balance and align the attainment of the poorest pupils with those from wealthier families, the pupil premium has been introduced. The pupil premium is a nationally agreed sum of money which is paid directly to the school for each pupil who is eligible for Free School Meals irrespective of the age of pupil, level of ability and type of setting attended. As it is not ring-fenced, it can be used innovatively to accelerate pupil progress.

This course provides the legal framework for the innovative use of the pupil premium, examples of practical approaches to enable accelerated learning, in addition to ways of measuring performance as evidence of narrowing the attainment gap between rich and poor to meet the revised OfSTED inspection framework