All children adopted from care in England and Wales, or who left care under a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangement / Residence Order. are eligible to attract the pupil premium. This includes children in alternative provision (such as an independent school or educated at home) where the place or provision is funded by the local authority.

The pupil premium is to help schools and other providers of education raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap with their peers. It is paid to schools in respect of disadvantaged pupils in Reception to Year 11. The Government extended the coverage of the Pupil Premium in recognition of the traumatic experiences many adopted children have endured in their early lives and a realisation that their needs do not change overnight.

To enable your child’s school to claim the pupil premium, you will need to inform the school about your child and provide supporting evidence, for example, show the school the original Adoption (Court) Order. You will need to self-declare before 15 January 2015 which is the date schools complete the annual School Census. This will then trigger the payment of the pupil premium to the school from April 2015.

If you informed the school of your child’s adopted status for the January 2014 School Census, it should not be necessary to provide evidence again. You are, however, advised to double check with the school. If your child has moved schools, you will be required to provide evidence again as information is not transferable from one school to another.

Department for Education
December 2014