What is Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)?

The Early Years Pupil Premium is designed to narrow the attainment gap between young children from low-income families and their peers.

All children aged 3 and 4 who meet the eligibility criteria can benefit from the funding. It is paid to early years’ providers on an hourly rate basis; this is linked to claimed hours for eligible children and is only payable for 3 and 4 year olds accessing their free early education entitlement.

Any provider registered to offer funded early years places can claim the EYPP if they have eligible children. Parents need to agree to their entitlement being verified by the local authority.

A child is eligible from the term after their 3rd birthday and will keep the eligibility for that year; eligibility is re-checked each September.

It is not the same criteria as 2-year-old funding; some children who get 2-year funding will not be eligible for EYPP.

Early Years Pupil Premium is still very new to families; the scheme became a national incentive in April 2015.

Early Years Pupil Premium is not connected to school age Pupil Premium. It is a stand-alone premium to support 3 and 4 year olds accessing their free childcare entitlement.

Eligibility Criteria for Early Years Pupil Premium?

Early Years Pupil Premium can be claimed by the childcare provider if a child at their setting is accessing free early education for 3 and 4 year olds and the child’s parent or carer receives one of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part 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 4 weeks after a family stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

Early Years Pupil Premium can also be claimed by the childcare provider when the child meets the following non-economic criteria.

• have been in local-authority care for 1 day or more in England or Wales
• have been adopted from care in England or Wales
• have left care under a special guardianship order or residence order in England or Wales

How much is Early Years Pupil Premium?

Early Years Pupil Premium is paid at a national rate of 53p for every free early education hour that an eligible child attends their setting.

EYPP payments are made as part of the normal cycle of Early Years Funding payments directly to the provider.

How will parents/carers know if their child is in receipt of EYPP?

Parents and carers are notified by letter if they are successful for Early Years Pupil Premium.

What will the funding be used for?

The extra funding can be used in any way the setting chooses in order to improve the quality of the early years education that they provide for your child. This could include, for example, additional training for staff on early language, investing in partnership working with colleagues in the area to further their expertise or supporting staff in working on specialised areas such as speech and language.

In order to maximise parent partnerships the setting will have discussions with parents/carers to establish and prioritise the child's individual needs.