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Nurseries, pre-schools, childminders and other childcare providers can claim extra funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium to support children’s development, learning and care.

The form has 3 pages and will take 2 to 3 minutes to complete.

What it does

The Early Years Pupil Premium provides an extra amount of money to the early years setting for funded 2 to 4 year old children whose parents are in receipt of certain qualifying benefits or children who have been adopted or are in care. From September 2024, the age that children are eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium will change to the funding period after a child turns 9 months.

The provider can use the funding in any way they chose to improve the quality of the early years’ education that they provide for the children. This could include:

• additional training for staff on early language
• investing in partnership working with colleagues to further their expertise
• supporting staff working on specialised areas such as speech and language

It is well documented that high quality early education can influence how well a child does at both primary and secondary school. A pupil premium has been available for school age children and it has given a real boost to the children receiving the funding.

Qualifying

The child must attend and claim funding at a setting in Somerset.

Parents and carers who receive any of the following will qualify for The Early Years Pupil Premium:

• Universal Credit with an annual income of less than £7,400
• Income Support
• Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) – not Contribution related
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance – not Contribution based
• Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Child Tax Credit, providing you do not also receive Working Tax Credit, with an annual taxable income (as assessed by HMRC) of less than £16,190
• children that have been adopted, or who have left care through special guardianship or child arrangement orders
• children who are Looked After by Somerset Council

More information

The childcare provider will be paid The Early Years Pupil Premium directly. The amount paid will depend on the number of universal hours of Early Years Entitlement that is claimed for the child. Child care providers who do not claim the Early Years Entitlement will not receive Early Years Pupil Premium.

Please talk to the childcare provider to find out how the funding is being spent.

If you apply for Early Years Pupil Premium and are informed that you are not eligible, this does not affect your Early Years Entitlement or working family claim.

Early Years Pupil Premium application form

PDF, 121 KB