Guidance

Pupil premium 2022 to 2023: conditions of grant for non-maintained special schools (NMSS)

Updated 23 March 2023

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The Secretary of State for Education lays down the following terms and conditions on which assistance is given in relation to the pupil premium grant (PPG) payable to NMSS for the financial year beginning 1 April 2022.

The pupil premium rates and detailed eligibility criteria for the financial year 2022 to 2023 are set out in the PPG technical note.

PPG is allocated to NMSS for 2 separate policies:

1.1 Raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities to help them reach their potential

PPG is allocated to NMSS based on the number of pupils in year groups reception to year 11 who are:

• Recorded as eligible for free school meals or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (FSM Ever 6). This includes eligible children of families who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

• Previously looked-after children (PLAC): pupils who were looked after by an English or Welsh local authority immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order).

PPG is also allocated to local authorities based on the number of looked-after children (LAC) supported by the authority, including for those LAC who attend NMSS. LAC are defined in the Children Act 1989 as one who is in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, an English local authority. It is up to the local authority to decide how much of this funding to pass on to the child’s NMSS.

The portion of PPG funding for LAC and PLAC pupils is referred to as ‘pupil premium plus’ (PP+).

1.2 Providing support for children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces

This portion of PPG is referred to as service pupil premium (SPP). Funding is allocated to NMSS based on the number of pupils who meet the eligibility criteria – see service pupil premium guidance for further details.

2. Permitted use of the PPG

The grant can be spent:

• for the benefit of pupils registered at the NMSS that receives it

• for the benefit of pupils registered at other NMSS, academies, or maintained schools

• on community services whose provision furthers the benefit of pupils at the NMSS

The PPG must be spent to support eligible pupil cohorts as described in sections 2.1 to 2.4

NMSS may wish to use a portion of PPG funding to support pupils who do not meet any of the PPG eligibility criteria but have other identified needs, where they deem it beneficial to do so.

2.1 Disadvantaged pupils

NMSS must use PPG funding for the purpose of raising the educational attainment of PLAC, LAC and pupils who are recorded as FSM Ever 6.

In line with the 3-tiered approach in EEF’s pupil premium guide, activities must be those that:

• support the quality of teaching, such as staff professional development

• provide targeted academic support, such as tutoring and

• tackle non-academic barriers to academic success, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support

To support NMSS to use PPG in line with the 3 tiers outlined above, DfE have published a ‘menu of approaches’, which has been informed by evidence of effective practice. NMSS must use their PPG in line with this menu from the start of the 2022 to 2023 academic year. NMSS are not required to allocate PPG to every approach on the menu, but any activity funded by PPG must fall under one of the approaches listed.

When diagnosing the targeted academic support needs of their disadvantaged pupils, NMSS should ensure they consider which pupils will benefit from tutoring, including through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP).

The menu of approaches is in the using pupil premium guidance.

2.2 Specific support for previously looked-after children (PLAC)

In order to achieve the purpose outlined in section 2.1 for PLAC, it is the responsibility of the NMSS to ensure that their use of PPG addresses the specific needs of PLAC attending the NMSS.

See the section on pupil premium plus in the using pupil premium guidance for further information.

2.3 Specific support for looked-after children (LAC)

In order to achieve the purpose outlined in section 2.1 for LAC, it is the responsibility of the Virtual School Head (VSH) in the local authority that looks after the child, in consultation with the child’s educational setting, to ensure that PPG is used to support those children’s educational needs in accordance with their personal education plans.

See the section on pupil premium plus in the using pupil premium guidance for further information.

2.4 Pupils eligible for SPP

The primary purpose of SPP is to enable schools to offer mainly pastoral support to eligible pupils during challenging times and to help mitigate the negative impact on service children of family mobility or parental deployment. It can be used to help improve the academic progress of eligible pupils if schools deem this to be a priority.

See the section on SPP in the using pupil premium guidance for further information.

3. Use of evidence

NMSS must be able to demonstrate how the activity they use their PPG to fund has been informed by research evidence, making reference to a range of sources, such as that published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).

NMSS are required to cite this evidence in their pupil premium strategy statement – see section 4 for further information.

4. Accountability

NMSS are required to publish an updated pupil premium strategy annually. Your funding agreement may contain further details.

All NMSS must use the template available on the Using Pupil Premium guidance page on GOV.UK to publish their 2022 to 2023 statement, by the end of December 2022.

The template is designed to enable NMSS to present an overview of their pupil premium strategy, and to demonstrate that their use of the funding meets the requirements of these conditions of grant. For the purposes of the latter, the template requires NMSS to report on their use of pupil premium in line with the 3-tiered approach set out in section 2.1.

As stated in section 2.1, all activity funded by the PPG must align with the published menu of approaches.

The DfE will undertake monitoring checks on a sample of NMSS’ published reports.

Given their role in ensuring NMSS spend funding appropriately and in holding NMSS to account for educational performance, trustees should scrutinise NMSS’ statements, including their plans for and use of their pupil premium funding and the outcomes achieved in the previous academic year. NMSS are held accountable for the outcomes they achieve with all their funding, including through Ofsted inspections and by trustees, and the PPG is no exception.

5. Allocation and payment arrangements

We will publish initial allocations in March 2022 for all NMSS that complete the October 2021 census. Allocations will be confirmed in June 2022, before the first payment.

Allocations will include NRPF pupils once the data from NMSS’ claims for those pupils has been validated. We will pay PPG to NMSS in quarterly instalments as follows:

• August 2022 - for NMSS open by, and on, 1 April 2022
• October 2022 - for NMSS open at 1 April 2022
• January 2023 - for NMSS open at 1 September 2022
• April 2023 - for NMSS open at 1 January 2023

6. Carrying PPG forward

NMSS are not required to spend all of the PPG they receive in the financial year beginning 1 April 2022; some or all of it may be carried forward to future financial years. Any funding that is carried forward must be used in accordance with the conditions of grant for pupil premium for the financial year in which the funding is spent. It must be accounted for in the NMSS’s pupil premium strategy statement for the academic year in which it is spent.

7. Variation

The basis for allocation of grant may be varied by the Secretary of State from those set out above, if so requested by the NMSS.

8. Other terms

If an NMSS fails to comply with the terms set out in the paragraphs above the Secretary of State may withhold the whole or any part of subsequent instalments of PPG paid to the NMSS.

This will be notified in writing to the NMSS and any such sum that has been notified shall be withheld from subsequent instalments of the PPG.

9. Overpayments

Any overpayment of the PPG shall be recovered against GAG funding by ESFA on behalf of the Secretary of State.

10. Further information

The books and other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts (for the purposes of this grant “recipient” is the NMSS proprietor) must be made available for inspection by the Secretary of State and by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The Comptroller and Auditor General may, under section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983, carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness with which the recipient has used its resources in discharging its grant-aided activities.

The NMSS proprietor must provide such further information as may be required by the Secretary of State for the purpose of determining whether, or to what extent, it has complied with the terms set out in this document. Failure to provide this information may result in the Secretary of State withholding subsequent instalments of the premium.