Children previously in care

Pupil Premium Plus for children previously looked after

Children previously in care (see section 2. Who is a child previously in care?) attract pupil premium funding to schools based on the number of children previously looked after (PLAC) by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales.

The pupil premium will be paid directly to schools and is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. However, the conditions of grant state:

For PLAC, it is the responsibility of the setting to ensure that the PP grant is used on evidence-informed interventions, in line with the menu of approaches, to support the specific educational needs of PLAC attending the school.

Further guidance can be found here: Pupil premium: conditions of grant for the 2025 to 2026 financial year - GOV.UK.

The portion of Pupil Premium grant funding for looked after and previously looked after pupils is referred to as 'Pupil Premium Plus' (PP+).

In 2025-2026 PP+ for previously looked after children of statutory school age will be £2,630.

The role of the designated teacher:

The Using pupil premium guidance for school leaders sets out the expectations that the designated teacher in school should:

• encourage parents of eligible previously looked-after children to tell the school if their child is eligible to attract pupil premium plus funding

• consult the Virtual School Head on how to use the funding effectively, where appropriate

• encourage parents and guardians' involvement in how pupil premium plus funding is used to support their child

• be the main contact for queries about how pupil premium is being used to support previously looked-after children

Accessing PP+ for a child

In October each year, schools complete a school census. For the financial year 2025 to 2026, the PP+ will be calculated based on the children recorded in the October 2024 school census as previously looked after.

Parents and guardians must declare their child's adoptive, SGO or CAO status by providing evidence, for example, a copy of the adoption order, or a confirmation letter from the local authority which placed their child to the school for schools to access funding. 

Please find a template information letter that can be sent out to all families within your setting regarding Pupil Premium Plus within our downloads.

Parents and guardians should not need to declare their child's status again unless they change school or setting.

Adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF)

Families may also be entitled to support from the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) which provides funds to local authorities to pay for essential therapeutic services for eligible adoptive, special guardianship order (SGO) and child arrangement order (CAO) families. You can find out more at www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf(opens new window).