Help your child’s school to qualify for Service Pupil Premium (SPP) funding by sharing your Service status before 1 October 2026.
The Department for Education (DfE) provides additional funding to support children from Service families in England through the SPP. The funding is paid directly to local authority maintained schools, academies and free schools.
In 2026, the SPP grant is £360 for each eligible Service pupil, from Reception to Year 11.
To help your child’s school to secure this funding, Service parents are encouraged to inform them of their Service status before the autumn census deadline on Thursday 1 October 2026. Parents can do this by speaking to the headteacher or school administration staff.
About the Service Pupil Premium
The main purposes of the SPP are to:
- Help mitigate the negative impact of high mobility on a Service child’s education
- Enable schools to offer pastoral support to eligible pupils, particularly during periods of family separation such as deployments
Schools have the flexibility to decide how to best to use the funding, whether to support individual pupils or to develop wider programmes that benefit many Service children.
Who is eligible?
Schools in England can receive SPP funding for pupils who meet one of the following criteria:
A parent currently serves in the regular Armed Forces, including parents who are on full commitment as part of the Full-Time Reserve Service.
A parent died while serving in the Armed Forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme.
The pupil has 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 at any point in the previous 6 years.
A parent is serving in the Armed Forces of another nation and is stationed in England.
Information and resources
For further information and support:
- Read the GOV.UK guidance on the SPP and how funding can be used to support Service pupils.
- Visit the Families Hub for information on childcare, schooling in the UK and overseas, higher education and apprenticeships, SEND and more
- Read the non-statutory guidance produced by the Ministry of Defence and Department for Education to help schools and local authorities understand and support Service pupils.
For general queries, contact the Education Policy Team at [email protected]
