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Written question asked by Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 2 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 June 2026 (named day). It was answered by Georgia Gould (Labour) on Monday, 8 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Service Pupil Premium

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 126112 on Service Pupil Premium, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Service Pupil Premium in meeting the additional needs of pupils who are the children of service personnel.

Answer

The Service Pupil Premium (SPP) provides extra funding to help schools meet the pastoral and educational needs of children from service families. It is designed to help schools respond to the specific challenges associated with service life, including mobility, parental deployment and periods of family separation.

Schools have flexibility in how they use SPP funding, and there are many examples of it being used constructively to support service children. The department works closely with the Ministry of Defence to provide joint guidance for schools and share good practice. It is important that schools remain attentive to the potential impacts of service life on pupils’ educational experience and their wider wellbeing.

As a group, service children’s academic attainment is broadly comparable to that of non‑Service, non‑free school meals pupils, and their rates of progression to further education, employment or training after key stage 4 are also similar.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
6250
Session
2026-27
Related items
Service Pupil Premium
Monday, 20 April 2026
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Service pupil premium
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk