This page is for childcare professionals who want to find out more about Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP). If you're a parent or carer visit the Early Years Pupil Premium parent web page.
Page contents
- What is Early Years Pupil Premium?
- Who can claim Early Years Pupil Premium?
- What is the eligibility criteria?
- How much will I be paid?
- What is my role in promoting Early Years Pupil Premium?
- How do I claim Early Years Pupil Premium if I am private, voluntary or independent provider?
- How do I claim the Early Years Pupil Premium if I am part of a maintained school?
- How can I spend Early Years Pupil Premium?
What is Early Years Pupil Premium?
Early Years Pupil Premium is funding from the Government for early years settings. You can use the money to improve the education you provide for eligible children accessing funded entitlements.
Who can claim Early Years Pupil Premium?
All early years providers who provide funded early education, including the Working Parents Entitlement, Funded Early Education for 2 year olds (FEET) and the Universal Entitlement. Children must meet the eligibility criteria.
What is the eligibility criteria?
Children must be using funded early education and their parent or carer must receive one of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part 6 (VI) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided the family is not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for four weeks after a family stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Adopted from care
- Has left care through a special guardianship arrangement
- Has left care and is subject to a child arrangement order (previously known as a residence order)
You may also get early years pupil premium if your child is currently being looked after by a local authority in England or Wales or if your child has left care in England or Wales through:
How much will I be paid?
Early Years Pupil Premium is paid as a national rate of 68p for every funded early education hour that an eligible child attends their setting. For example, if children are attending their full 15 hours of funded early education a week this would be as follows:
| Number of children | Amount each year |
|---|---|
| 1 child | £387.60 |
| 5 children | £1,938 |
| 10 children | £3,876 |
| 15 children | £5,814 |
Children don't need to access the full entitlement to be eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium, providers will be paid on a pro rata basis.
What's my role in promoting Early Years Pupil Premium to parents and carers?
You should promote Early Years Pupil Premium to all parents and carers in your setting and encourage them to tell you if they may be eligible. This should be voluntary. Some parents will choose not to identify themselves as meeting the eligibility criteria but you can make sure you've done as much as possible to let them know all about it. See our tips below.
Tips for promoting Early Years Pupil Premium to parents and carers:
- Include information about EYPP in your prospectus or welcome pack and discuss during show rounds.
- Promote EYPP on your website.
- Consider creating your own information leaflet about how EYPP has been used to support children at your setting. Photos can be a great way to illustrate this. You could also display this information in your setting as when parents see this it may encourage them to register if they were previously unsure.
- The EYPP registration is now included in the declaration form, you can use this to start the conversation when asking parents to complete this to claim their funded entitlement.
- If your setting carries out home visits, this can be a good time to discuss EYPP as not all parents and carers will feel comfortable talking about this in your childcare setting.
How do I claim Early Years Pupil Premium if I am a private, voluntary or independent provider?
Step 1
Tell parents about EYPP and collect registration forms.
Explain to parents completing the funded entitlements declaration form that the registration for an EYPP check is now included and they can complete the information on page 3 should they wish to.
The declaration form can be revisited at any time during the year to complete this section of the form, however it is still possible to download a separate EYPP registration form (MS Word) that can be given to parents. Alternatively, you can provide a link to the Early Years Pupil Premium parent web page so they can download the form themselves.
Whether completing the information on the declaration, or the separate registration form, parents and carers need to complete this form and return it to you.
Step 2
If a parent or carer has indicated on the form that their child belongs to one of the following groups:
- Is looked after by the local authority.
- Has been adopted from care.
- Has left care through a special guardianship arrangement.
- Has left care and is subject to a child arrangement order.
You will need to see a copy of the parents or carers court order to check this is correct. We will be able to check the eligibility of any children that have been identified as being looked after by the local authority.
Step 3
What happens next?
EYPP checks can be done on the Early Years portal, once funded hours claims have been added.
If a child is found to be eligible for the premium, they will then automatically appear in your Funded List for EYPP. We will then transfer the money to you in that funded period.
How do I claim the Early Years Pupil Premium if I am part of a maintained school?
If you are part of a school, you will follow the same process as a private, voluntary or independent provider for 2 year olds (see above).
For 3&4 year olds, there are some different steps that you will need to carry out to claim the premium, these are:
Step 1
The EYPP registration form is now included in the funded entitlements declaration form, therefore parents can be encouraged to complete this information on page 3 each funded period.
The declaration form can be revisited at any time during the year to complete this section of the form, however it is still possible to download a separate EYPP registration form (MS Word) that can be given to parents.
Whether completing the information on the declaration, or the separate registration form, parents and carers need to complete this form and return it to you.
Step 2
If a parent or carer has indicated that their child belongs to one of the following groups:
- Is looked after by the local authority.
- Has been adopted from care.
- Has left care through a special guardianship arrangement.
- Has left care and is subject to a child arrangement order.
You will need to have seen a copy of the parent or carers court order to check this is correct. The Funded Early Education Team will be able to check the eligibility of any children that have been identified as being looked after by the local authority.
Step 3
Enter the relevant details on the Schools EYPP Eligibility Checking Template, (please email to request this if required) and email it to fundedearlyeducation@surreycc.gov.uk
What happens next?
The Funded Early Education Team will then check the family's eligibility through the Department for Work and Pension's Eligibility Checking System and will return to you via Egress your spreadsheet showing the results.
You will need to tell the child's parent or carer the outcome of the check and also record the child on your census as being eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium. You will receive your payment in your termly budget adjustment.
How can I spend Early Years Pupil Premium?
You can choose how you spend the Early Years Pupil Premium but you should use evidence about what works when making this decision and it must raise the quality of your early years education offer.
This could be through:
- Pooling the Early Years Pupil Premium to purchase shared services such as an Early Years Graduate or a Speech and Language Therapist.
- Buying services from teaching schools alliances.
- Improving staff member's qualifications.
- Accessing training or providing additional staff to implement specific strategies.
The Education Endowment Foundation has an early years toolkit, which is a summary of educational strategies and research to help you decide how to use your resources to improve the children's attainment.