The Department for Education (DfE) provides additional funding through the Service Pupil Premium in England. The SPP grant goes directly to academies and non-maintained state schools, as well as local authorities for each school they maintain.
The SPP grant for 2025 is £350 per Service pupil – children from Reception to Year 11 may be eligible.
To help your child’s school to qualify for SPP, Service parents are encouraged to inform schools of their Service status ahead of the autumn census deadline of Thursday 2 October 2025. You can do this by talking to the headteacher or school administration staff.
About the Service Pupil Premium
The main purposes of the Service pupil premium are to:
- help mitigate the negative impact of high mobility on a Service pupil’s education
- enable schools to offer pastoral support to eligible pupils, particularly during times of family separation such as deployments
Am I eligible?
Pupils attract SPP if they meet one of the following criteria:
• One of their parents is serving in the regular Armed Forces (including pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the Full-Time Reserve Service).
• One of their parents died while serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme.
• They have been registered as a ‘Service child’ in the most recent autumn DfE school census or they do not currently have ‘Service child’ status but they have been registered as a ‘Service child’ on any DfE school census in the past 6 years.
• One of their parents is in the armed forces of another nation and is stationed in England.
For more information about the Service Pupil Premium, including its purpose and what it’s used for, visit GOV.UK (www).