Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium at Over Hall Community School
What is the pupil premium?
The pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government to schools to improve the progress and attainment of pupils who face extra challenges in reaching their potential. At Over Hall, the grant is used to remove barriers to learning. We do not allocate a personal budget to each eligible child; instead, we invest in strategies that support eligible pupils and, in practice, benefit the wider school community.
Research consistently shows that the most academically able pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are at the greatest risk of under-performing. At Over Hall we focus just as much on those children as on pupils with lower attainment.
Important changes for 2026/27 — please read
Free school meals have been expanded. Pupil premium has not.
From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, free school meals (FSM) eligibility in England has been extended to all pupils in households receiving Universal Credit, whatever the household income. Over half a million more children became eligible.
This has created two categories of free school meals:
- Targeted FSM — the existing group, based on the £7,400 annual household income threshold (after tax, not including benefits). These pupils attract pupil premium funding for the school.
- Expanded FSM — pupils who qualify for meals because their household receives Universal Credit, but whose income is above that threshold. These pupils receive free school meals, but do not attract pupil premium funding.
In short: applying is still worth doing, even if your child now qualifies for free meals. Only Targeted FSM pupils form part of the Ever 6 cohort, and the school can only claim the funding for children whose eligibility has been registered.
If your child was already eligible, you are protected. Any pupil recorded as eligible for Targeted FSM before the expansion remains in the Ever 6 cohort for the full six years — even if your household income later rises, or you move into the Expanded FSM group. You will not lose out.
Entitlements linked to free school meals have also changed. From September 2026, other education entitlements linked to FSM — including the Holiday Activities and Food programme and school travel assistance — are based on the Targeted FSM criteria. Families in the Expanded FSM group are entitled to meals only.
Who is eligible for pupil premium funding?
Schools receive pupil premium for eligible pupils in Reception to Year 11 — at Over Hall, Reception to Year 6. There are three groups.
1. Free school meals (Ever 6 FSM) Pupils recorded as eligible for Targeted FSM, or who have been recorded as eligible at any point in the last six years. This includes pupils with no recourse to public funds who meet the criteria.
Funding rate for 2026/27: £1,550 per primary-aged pupil per year.
2. Looked-after and previously looked-after children Children who are looked after by a local authority, and children who have left care through adoption, a special guardianship order or a child arrangements order. This includes children adopted from state care outside England and Wales.
Funding rate for 2026/27: £2,690 per pupil per year. Funding for children currently in local authority care is managed by the local authority's virtual school head, in consultation with the school. Where a pupil attracts both this funding and Ever 6 FSM funding, only the looked-after rate is paid.
3. Service children (service pupil premium) Pupils with a parent serving in the regular armed forces — including a parent on full commitment as part of the full-time reserve service — or in the armed forces of another nation stationed in England, who have been registered as a service child on a school census at any point in the last six years. These children are not necessarily from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
Funding rate for 2026/27: £360 per pupil per year.
How to apply — step by step
Step 1 — Check whether you qualify. The government's page lists the full set of qualifying benefits and directs you to your local council.
Step 2 — Apply to Cheshire West and Chester Council. Over Hall is in the Cheshire West and Chester area, and applications are made to the council, not to the school. The form takes a few minutes to complete.
Please use the link above, which takes you to the council's free school meals page. The application form itself is linked from there.
Step 3 — If you would rather speak to someone. The council's benefits team handles free school meal claims and can check eligibility and take an application over the phone. They are available Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm.
- Telephone: 0300 123 7021
- Email: Benefits@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
You are also very welcome to contact the school office and we will help you through the process:
- Telephone: 01606 663650
- Email: admin@overhall.cheshire.sch.uk
Step 4 — Tell us if your circumstances change. Adoption from care, a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order, or a parent serving in the armed forces are not triggered by a free school meal application. These routes need to be registered separately, so please tell the school office directly.
Step 5 — Re-check when asked. Existing free school meal claims are periodically reviewed. Please respond promptly so that your child's entitlement, and the school's funding, are not interrupted.
Not eligible, but struggling? Support may still be available through the council's Household Support Fund and holiday activity and food programmes. Please ask at the school office — we will help you find the right support.
How we use the funding
We believe in maximising the impact of the pupil premium grant through a long-term strategy aligned to our School Improvement and Development Plan. Overcoming barriers to learning is at the heart of our approach. We recognise that needs and costs differ according to the barriers being addressed, which is why we do not allocate personal budgets per pupil.
Evidence collated by the Education Endowment Foundation shows that pupil premium spending is most effective when schools take a tiered approach, prioritising teaching quality above all:
- Quality teaching for all — investing in learning and development for our staff, including effective deployment of support staff so the curriculum can be delivered in smaller groups.
- Targeted academic support — personalised learning and effective feedback, metacognitive and self-regulation strategies, reading strategies, early years intervention, digital technology used to supplement teaching.
- Wider strategies — supporting social and emotional needs, including our Basecamp provision led by an ELSA for half of the weekly timetable, alongside school-level approaches that develop a positive ethos.
