Early years pupil premium
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Early Years Pupil Premium
Nurseries, schools, childminders and other childcare providers can claim extra funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium. This funding is used to support children’s development, learning and care.
The Early Years Pupil Premium provides an extra 68p per hour per child. It applies to two, three and four-year-old children whose parents are in receipt of certain benefits or who have been in care or adopted from care. This means an extra £388 a year for each child.
Providers can use the extra funding in any way they choose to improve the quality of the early years education that they provide for your child. This could include for example additional training for their staff on early language, or supporting staff in working on specialised areas such as speech and language.
Eligibility criteria
Your child is eligible for the Early Years Pupil Premium if you are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Universal Credit (provided you have household earnings of less than £7,400)
There are also special circumstances under which your child would be eligible for the Early Years Pupil Premium, in addition to the economic criteria. Your childcare provider can claim funding if your child:
- is looked after by the local authority
- has left care through a special guardianship or adoption or residence order
How to apply
Parents should discuss information about the Early Years Pupil Premium with their childcare provider, as the provider is responsible for the application process.
If you would like your childcare provider to claim funding on non-economic criteria, please complete the special circumstances application form on this page and pass to your childcare provider.