Pupil Premium Plus: What Foster Carers Should Know

Foster carers often hear about Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) but don’t always get a clear, practical explanation of what it is, who controls it, and how it can actually help a child in your care. This guide puts everything in plain English—from current funding rates to how PP+ should appear in a child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP), and the questions you can ask to make sure it’s used well.

What Pupil Premium Plus is—and how it differs from other funding

A quick definition

Pupil Premium Plus is extra government funding to improve the education of looked-after children (LAC) and previously looked-after children (PLAC) in state-funded schools in England. For children currently in care, PP+ is managed by the local authority’s Virtual School Head (VSH) in consultation with the child’s school. For previously looked-after children (for example, adopted from care, SGO, or CAO), PP+ is paid directly to the school. It is not a cash allowance for carers or a personal budget for the child.

How PP+ is different from the main Pupil Premium and SPP

PP+ sits alongside the broader Pupil Premium (for pupils eligible for Free School Meals, etc.) and the Service Pupil Premium (SPP) (for children of service families). SPP is separate and currently set at £350 per eligible pupil in the 2025–26 financial year.

The current PP+ funding rates (2025/26)

What schools and Virtual Schools actually receive

For 2025–26, multiple local authorities confirm the PP+ rate for looked-after children at £2,630 per statutory school-aged pupil (April 2025–March 2026). That is a small uplift from £2,570 in 2024–25 (the DfE’s technical note for last year). Local policies reference the DfE’s current conditions of grant for how the money must be managed.

Early years top-up (EYPP)

If your child is under school age and in an early years setting, there is a separate Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP). From April 2025, EYPP is up to £570 per eligible child per year (paid to the provider), reflecting a national uplift; it’s calculated across the funded hours and administered via the local authority.

Who decides how PP+ is spent?

Virtual School Head (VSH) for looked-after children

For children in care, the local authority’s Virtual School Head holds and deploys PP+. The VSH should agree spending through the PEP, quality-assure the PEP, and be able to demonstrate impact. Unspent PP+ should be returned at year-end.

Schools for previously looked-after children (PLAC)

For PLAC, PP+ goes directly to the school. Schools must use it in line with the DfE’s ‘menu of approaches’ and publish a Pupil Premium strategy annually explaining how funding is used and its impact.

What PP+ can—and cannot—pay for

The principles in a nutshell

PP+ is designed to raise attainment and close gaps. It’s not a personal allowance for the child, nor a general contribution to core school budgets. Spending should follow the needs identified in the PEP (for LAC) or relevant school planning (for PLAC), and be evidence-informed.

Examples that often make sense

• Targeted tutoring or small-group interventions (literacy, numeracy, GCSE support), diagnostic assessment, and intervention planning aligned with the DfE/EEF approach.
• Specialist services where justified by PEP targets—educational psychology, speech and language input, mentoring, attendance work, or therapeutic support when it addresses barriers to learning.
• Training for staff (and sometimes carers, via the school/Virtual School) that equips adults to support trauma-informed or attachment-aware practice.

What to avoid

Routine classroom costs that the school should meet anyway, or blanket allocations with no link to PEP targets and measurable outcomes. Many Virtual School policies also discourage using PP+ as a general hardship fund or to replace statutory services.

How PP+ links to the Personal Education Plan (PEP)

Why the PEP matters to you

Every looked-after child must have a PEP—a live plan that identifies learning priorities, sets SMART targets, and agrees support (including PP+). The Virtual School works with the social worker and the school’s Designated Teacher to ensure the PEP is high-quality and that PP+ is used to meet those targets.

What to look for in a strong PEP discussion

Ask:

• What’s the learning need? (e.g., reading comprehension or attendance barriers)
• Which intervention addresses it, for how long, and how will we measure progress?
• How much PP+ is allocated this term and when will we review impact?
  These are exactly the kinds of questions VSHs expect schools to answer, and they tie directly to the DfE’s ‘menu of approaches’ and evaluation cycle.

Getting PP+ right for teenagers

Typical issues—and how PP+ can help

Secondary-age pupils in care often need a blend of academic and wider support: curriculum catch-up, executive-function coaching, mentoring, attendance support, and post-16 transition planning (college, apprenticeships). PP+ can fund evidence-based tutoring and mentoring programmes that are tracked and reviewed at each PEP.

For children previously in care (adoption, SGO, CAO)

How schools should manage PLAC PP+

Schools receive PP+ directly and decide usage; there is no VSH-supervised PEP for PLAC, but the school still has to show PP+ is used effectively—publishing a strategy statement by 31 December each year. Parents/guardians can speak with the Designated Teacher to understand how support matches need.

Regional differences and termly release

Why the amount you see may vary through the year

Many Virtual Schools devolve PP+ termly and may retain a small central proportion for training or specialist projects that benefit looked-after pupils across schools. That’s permissible where it’s transparent and tied to outcomes. If you’re unsure, ask your social worker or the VSH how your child’s allocation is being used this term.

Early years: don’t miss EYPP

Funding in nurseries and childminders

For eligible early years children (including those currently looked-after), EYPP provides up to £570 per child per year from April 2025, paid to the provider. Local authorities must pay for the full 570 funded hours for looked-after children who receive at least one hour of funded early education, regardless of the exact hours taken—so families don’t miss out through technicalities.

PP+ and national policy changes you’ll hear about

Why Free School Meal (FSM) news isn’t the same as PP+

You may see headlines about expanding FSM eligibility in future years. That doesn’t automatically change who attracts PP or PP+ until the DfE updates the corresponding funding criteria. Keep your eye on the Pupil Premium conditions of grant each year for what actually changes in schools.

How carers can champion good use of PP+

Prepare for PEP meetings with three simple steps

1. Know the data: attendance, reading age, recent grades, and what’s already been tried.
2. Link ask → need: propose support that directly addresses a PEP target (e.g., 12-week tutoring with progress checks).
3. Agree review points: when will we look at the impact and adjust?

These steps match the DfE/EEF emphasis on diagnosing need, choosing an approach from the menu, and reviewing impact—so schools and VSHs can say yes sooner.

Common myths—cleared up

“PP+ belongs to the child, so we can choose how to spend it.”

Not quite. PP+ is not a personal allowance; it has to be spent by the school or VSH on educational outcomes, normally linked to the PEP (for LAC).

“PP+ should always be given directly to the school.”

For LAC, the funding is held and directed by the VSH (often released termly). For PLAC, it’s paid to the school.

“If a child is on FSM, that changes PP+.”

PP+ is a separate entitlement linked to care status. FSM affects the main Pupil Premium, not PP+ itself. (Some children will trigger both, and schools must account for each stream properly.)

Practical examples that often work well

Primary school example

A Year 4 child in care is struggling with decoding and stamina. The PEP agrees diagnostic assessment, 12 weeks of tutoring, and phonics catch-up, with reading age measured at start and end. Staff get attachment-aware training so routines are predictable across the day.

Secondary school example

A Year 10 pupil has attendance dips linked to anxiety. The PEP combines mentoring, small-group English support toward GCSE, and a graduated attendance plan with weekly check-ins and half-termly data review. If impact isn’t there by week six, the plan pivots.

Where to find the official rules each year

Documents worth bookmarking

• Pupil premium overview and conditions of grant—the core rules that schools and local authorities must follow.
• Using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders—explains the menu of approaches, impact monitoring and strategy statements.
• Statutory guidance on promoting the education of looked-after children—sets out the VSH and local authority duties and the role of PEPs.
• Local Virtual School PP+ policy—for your child’s specific local processes, termly release, and any application forms. (Examples for 2025–26 confirm the £2,630 rate.)

Bottom line for foster carer

• Ask how PP+ is being used to meet your child’s PEP targets (for LAC) or, for PLAC, how the school’s PP strategy supports your child’s needs.
• Expect evidence-informed interventions, time-limited with clear review points.
• Check rates annually each April and keep an eye on DfE updates.