What Is Pupil Premium and How Does Catch-Up Tutoring Work?

Pupil Premium is additional government funding given to state schools in England for each pupil who meets certain eligibility criteria, including those from low-income families. Schools are required to spend it on raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and must publish how they use it. Tutoring — one-to-one or small group — is one of the most evidence-backed ways schools can deploy this funding.

What is Pupil Premium?

The Pupil Premium was introduced by the DfE in 2011. Its purpose is to close the persistent attainment gap between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. Schools receive a per-pupil allocation from the government for each eligible student, which they can spend on interventions, support, and resources for those students.

The 2024–25 rates (as published on gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-alternative-provision-settings) are:

Eligibility group | Pupil Premium allocation
Pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) now or in the past six years | £1,480 per pupil (primary); £1,050 per pupil (secondary)
Children in care (looked-after children) | £2,570 per pupil
Children adopted from care or under Special Guardianship Order (post-looked-after) | £2,570 per pupil
Children of service families (Service Pupil Premium) | £340 per pupil

These are per-pupil per-year allocations. A secondary school with 100 Pupil Premium-eligible students receives around £105,000 per year in Pupil Premium funding for those students — a substantial resource that must be spent on evidence-based support.

Who is eligible for Pupil Premium?

Eligibility is based on specific criteria, not general household income. The main eligibility routes are:

Free School Meals (Ever-6): A pupil is Pupil Premium-eligible if they are currently claiming Free School Meals, or if they have claimed Free School Meals at any point in the past six years. This "Ever-6" look-back period means a family whose circumstances have improved may still have a Pupil Premium-eligible child.

Children in care or previously in care: Looked-after children (in the care of the local authority) and children adopted from care after 2008 are eligible for the higher rate.

Service children: Children of parents serving in the armed forces receive the Service Pupil Premium, which schools use for pastoral and educational support.

If you are unsure whether your child qualifies: Contact the school's admin team or the DfE's eligibility checker. Many families who qualify for Free School Meals — and therefore Pupil Premium — have never registered. Registering costs nothing and triggers the school's entitlement to additional funding for your child.

How do schools use Pupil Premium for tutoring?

Schools are required to publish a Pupil Premium Strategy Statement each year explaining how they spend the funding and evaluating its impact. Tutoring is among the interventions consistently recommended by the EEF for Pupil Premium spend, because the evidence base for both one-to-one and small group tuition is strong.

The most common Pupil Premium-funded tutoring models in secondary schools are:

School-led tutoring: Staff (teachers, teaching assistants, or specialist tutors employed by the school) provide sessions during or after school hours for identified students. This was the primary model supported by the DfE's National Tutoring Programme.

Academic mentoring: Teaching assistants or designated mentors work with Pupil Premium students across subjects, helping with homework, organisation, and subject-specific gaps.

External tutor partnerships: Some schools use Pupil Premium to fund subsidised access to tutoring platforms, tuition agencies, or AI tutoring products for eligible students.

After-school and holiday provision: Some schools run Pupil Premium-funded catch-up programmes during Easter or summer holidays, particularly for Year 11 students preparing for GCSEs.

What the evidence says about catch-up tutoring

The Education Endowment Foundation's meta-analysis of tutoring interventions gives one-to-one tuition an average impact of five additional months of learning — one of the highest-rated interventions in the EEF Toolkit. Small group tuition (two to five students) produces an average gain of four additional months.

However, the EEF also notes that effectiveness depends heavily on:

Session frequency: Weekly or twice-weekly sessions produce better outcomes than fortnightly or irregular contact

Content targeting: Tutoring that focuses on specific identified gaps outperforms general "catch-up" with no diagnostic basis

Tutor quality: Subject knowledge and communication skill matter more than whether the tutor is a qualified teacher

Student engagement: Students who understand why they are receiving tutoring and buy into the sessions show stronger gains

The DfE's National Tutoring Programme (NTP), which funded tutoring across England from 2020 to 2024, found that school-led tutoring — delivered by trained staff and teaching assistants — was cost-effective and produced meaningful outcomes, particularly when targeted at Year 7 students with attainment gaps from primary school.

What parents can ask the school

If your child is Pupil Premium-eligible, you are entitled to know how the school is using Pupil Premium funding for your child and what support they are receiving. The school's Pupil Premium Strategy Statement (published on the school website) sets out the overall approach. For individual students:

Ask the form tutor or head of year which Pupil Premium interventions your child is currently receiving

If your child is in Year 9–11, ask specifically about GCSE catch-up tutoring and whether they are eligible

Ask whether the school has any subsidised or free tutoring available for Pupil Premium students, and how to access it

If you believe your child has gaps that are not being addressed, request a meeting to discuss what additional support is available

Can Pupil Premium fund private or external tutoring?

Schools have discretion over how they spend Pupil Premium. While most deploy it through in-school provision, some schools offer subsidised access to external tutoring services for eligible families. This is less common but worth asking about directly — particularly if a school has partnered with a tutoring platform or agency.

Families who cannot access school-provided tutoring support can also apply to some charitable organisations that provide free or subsidised tutoring for disadvantaged secondary students, including Action Tutoring and Tutor Trust, which operate in various parts of England.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Pupil Premium and does my child qualify?

Pupil Premium is government funding schools receive for disadvantaged pupils, including those currently or recently eligible for Free School Meals, looked-after children, and children adopted from care. Schools use it to fund evidence-based support including tutoring, mentoring, and catch-up programmes. If your child has received Free School Meals at any point in the past six years, they are likely Pupil Premium-eligible. Check with the school's office or use the DfE guidance at gov.uk.

Does Pupil Premium mean my child gets free tutoring?

Not automatically. Schools receive the Pupil Premium funding and decide how to deploy it across their eligible cohort. Some schools provide explicit tutoring sessions for Pupil Premium students; others use the funding for other interventions such as after-school support, resources, or pastoral care. Ask your child's school specifically what tutoring or catch-up provision is available for Pupil Premium-eligible students and how your child can access it.

What happened to the National Tutoring Programme?

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) was a government-funded initiative that ran from 2020 to 2024, funding subsidised tutoring in England for disadvantaged pupils, particularly to address learning loss following the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme ended in 2024. Schools that participated are expected to continue tutoring provision using Pupil Premium funding. Many schools have embedded tutoring into their standard Pupil Premium strategy as a result of the NTP.

How can I get tutoring for my child if we cannot afford it?

If your child is Pupil Premium-eligible, ask the school about any subsidised tutoring provision. If the school does not offer it, organisations including Action Tutoring (actiontutoring.org.uk) and the Tutor Trust (tutortrust.co.uk) provide free or low-cost tutoring for disadvantaged students in parts of England. AI tutoring products designed for KS3 students can also provide affordable daily practice at a fraction of the cost of private one-to-one sessions, making consistent support more accessible for families on a limited budget.

For affordable, curriculum-aligned AI tutoring that complements school-based Pupil Premium provision, see aitutors.me.