Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

What is Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)?

EYPP is additional funding for early years providers to improve the educational outcomes of socio-economically disadvantaged children who are eligible for the free early years entitlements in an early years setting. This means that for eligible children accessing the free early years entitlements, providers are entitled to receive an additional £1 for every universal/expanded hour claimed, up to a maximum of 15 hours. Providers should work in partnership with parents to carefully consider the learning and development needs of the child.

Eligibility for EYPP

Children are eligible for EYPP if they receive at least one hour of free early years entitlements provision and their parent or carer receives one or more of the following benefits: 

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of  Pension Credit
• Universal Credit, if the parent or carer’s annual net household income is less than £7,400, not including any benefits

If a child was formerly looked after by a local authority in England or Wales through adoption, a special guardianship order or a child arrangements order, they are also eligible.

Age	EYPP Entitlement
9 months to 2 years old	Payable on the working family entitlement (up to the first 15 hours only).
2 year olds	Payable on either the entitlement for families in receipt of additional support, or the working family entitlement (up to the first 15 hours only). Should be paid against the former first, if the child is eligible.
3 and 4 year olds	Payable on the universal 15 hours entitlement only.

 

For children who meet the income eligibility criteria, EYPP is paid per hour of early education entitlement they receive.  

A child who is currently being looked after by a local authority in England or Wales and receives at least one hour of free early years entitlement provision is also eligible for EYPP. 

How to Use EYPP Funding

Providers should ensure that EYPP funding is used to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged children by spending on activities, staff training and resources that specifically impact educational outcomes for disadvantaged children. They should plan EYPP spending based on consideration of well-evidenced approaches such as professional development for staff, which may benefit all children while providing the greatest benefit to disadvantaged children.

Recommended spending approaches are set out in the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) Guide to the Early Years Pupil Premium. This offers practical, evidence-informed advice for setting leaders on maximising the use of EYPP in their context.

Providers should spend EYPP funding in full within the academic year for which it has been allocated.  

How to Claim EYPP

Providers are responsible for identifying families that could be eligible for EYPP and should gather the necessary information and permission through the parent declaration form and privacy notice, which must be completed for all children accessing any form of funded childcare.

Providers may not always be aware of a family’s eligibility, therefore providers may also ask all families to complete the relevant sections of the parent declaration, so that EYPP eligibility can be checked for all children. 

EYPP will automatically be assigned to LAC children on receipt of their application for early years entitlement funding. 

From the information and consent obtained through the parent declaration form, providers need to add the details to the 'Parent/Carer' tab on the Provider Portal when completing their termly Actual headcount. Providers will also need to ensure that they place a tick in the 'EYPP' consent box on the Portal, so that the child is included in the LA's termly EYPP checks.

Accountability

The main accountability mechanism for the use of EYPP will be through Ofsted inspection.

During an inspection, Ofsted will evaluate the quality of provision and consider:

• how effective the setting is at identifying children eligible for funding for disadvantage
• the decisions that leaders take about supporting those children’s needs
• how well children are supported
• the impact on disadvantaged children

Ofsted will want to see evidence that a provider has considered how best to invest EYPP funding, how they expect to determine if the money improves a child's outcomes over the short and/or long term and any evidence available on impact already achieved.