Service Pupil Premium (SPP) England
Published 16 December 2022
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-service-personnel-and-their-families-on-child-welfare-policies/service-pupil-premium-spp-england
What is it
SPP is funded and administered by the Department for Education (DfE), England, as part of the commitment to delivering the Armed Forces Covenant. In 2020, DfE increased SPP from £300 to £310 per Service pupil, per year.
SPP is used by eligible schools to offer mainly pastoral support to Service children during challenging times and to help mitigate the negative impact of family mobility or parental deployment.
Parents should inform the school that their child is a Service child before the autumn school census (first Thursday in October). Schools may ask parents to fill in a form.
Schools will need to record all service children in their autumn school census submission to the DfE.
Eligibility
Only schools in England are eligible for SPP. A school is eligible if any of its pupils meet one of the following criteria:
- They have one parent serving in the regular armed forces (this includes a parent on full time commitment as part of the full-time reserve service).
- They have been registered as a ‘service child’ on a school census at any point since 2016.
- One of their parents died whilst serving in the armed forces and that pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme.
Scotland, Wales and NI also have support mechanisms in place for Service children, see the Education in the UK for service children webpage for more information.
SPP is not paid to individual Service children or parents. It is up to the school to decide how to use the funding.
For further information please visit the Service pupil premium guidance page. The SPP DIN can be accessed via the Defence Intranet Defence Instructions and Notices - Home (sharepoint.com) - (DIN Ref. 2021DIN01-074).