Early years pupil premium

In order for a child to be eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium, they must be accessing the 15 hours early years entitlement as well as meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Income Support
• Job Seeker's Allowance (income-based)
• Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
• support under part six of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit - providing you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and your family's annual income (as assessed by HMRC) is not more than £16,190
• Universal Credit - your household income must be less than £7,400 per year after tax, not including any benefits you get
• the child has been looked after by the Local Authority for at least one day
• the child has been adopted from care, is the subject to a special guardianship order, or are subject to a child arrangement order setting out whom the child is to live with

If a parent believes that they meet one or more of the criteria they complete the new optional section on the parent declaration form. 

Eligibility checks will be carried out at the following points:

• child turns 9 months, two, three or four on or before 31 March, check carried out in May
• child turns 9 months, two, three or four on or before 31 August, check carried out in September
• child turns 9 months, two, three or four on or before 31 December, check carried out in January

Once a provider starts receiving Early Years Pupil Premium funding in respect of a particular child, they will not have the funding withdrawn while the child is taking up the early years entitlement funding.  If a child leaves their current provider, their new provider will need to carry out an eligibility check to ensure they still meet the criteria.

 Where a child attends two providers the funding will be paid on the 15 hours entitlement only.

Following each funding period's headcount, providers will receive their financial statement listing all children who are eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium.

Early Years Pupil Premium funding will be calculated per funding period and paid as a lump sum at the end of each funding period in July, December and March.

Providers must use the money in ways they think will support the child's learning and development. This should be informed by their understanding of the child's needs and preferences.

Ofsted inspections will report on whether providers spend their Early Years Pupil Premium funding effectively, so keeping a record of how the money is spent and the impact it's making is essential.