Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the maximum take-up of the pupil premium; and if she will make a statement.

The pupil premium provides schools with additional funding to improve the progress and attainment of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, with £6.25 billion provided to date. Pupil premium allocations to schools are mainly based on the number of pupils on roll at the time of the January school census who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the preceding six years.

We are working to encourage all families who meet the current criteria toregisterfor free school meals. The Department’s eligibility checking system has made it much easier and quicker to check which families are entitled to free school meals.

The Department has also published a registration form to help schools to identify pupils who are entitled to free school meals and the pupil premium. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-and-pupil-premium-registration-form.