Service Pupil Premium and Children of Veterans

Service Pupil Premium is available for pupils in state-funded schools in England who meet any of the following criteria:

• One or both parents are currently serving in the UK Regular Armed Forces (Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Air Force).
• One or both parents have left the Regular Armed Forces within the last 3 years.
• One or both parents are serving in the Reserve Forces and have been mobilised on operations within the last 3 years.

Eligibility is established by the parent declaring their service status to the school. Schools use this self-declaration and may cross-check with service personnel records where necessary. Parents should notify the school at the point of admission and update them if their service status changes.

Schools have discretion in how they use SPP, but the Department for Education's guidance emphasises that it should be used to:

• Minimise the disruption to learning caused by frequent school changes (service family mobility)
• Support pupils whose parents are on deployment
• Provide pastoral and emotional support for service pupils who may be dealing with anxiety, bereavement, or reintegration challenges
• Fund transition support when a service pupil joins or leaves the school
• Provide access to extracurricular activities, mentoring, or tutoring where the pupil has gaps from prior school changes

Schools must report publicly (in their pupil premium strategy statement) on how SPP is spent and what impact it has had. Parents can ask to see this information and should not hesitate to ask what specific support is being provided for their child.

Research by the Service Children's Education (SCE) charity and the Department for Education has identified specific educational challenges for children of service personnel:

• School mobility: Service children typically change schools more frequently than civilian peers, causing gaps in curriculum coverage, loss of friendship networks, and inconsistency in teaching approaches.
• Parental deployment: Worry and anxiety about a deployed parent can affect concentration, behaviour, and attainment. "Half-term" patterns of parental absence and return can cause repeated adjustment difficulties.
• Social isolation: New pupils in any school face social challenges; service children face these repeatedly.
• Special Educational Needs: Some service children with SEND may have their support plans disrupted by school changes — schools receiving a service child with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) must meet the plan immediately.

As a service family, you have the right to:

• Ask the school what SPP is being used for in relation to your child specifically.
• Request a meeting with the designated service pupil champion or pastoral lead at the school — many schools now have a staff member with specific responsibility for service pupils.
• Make a formal complaint to the school and then to Ofsted if you believe SPP is not being used appropriately for your child.
• Access the Armed Forces Families Federation (AFFF) for advice on education issues facing service families — aff.org.uk
• Contact the Children's Education Advisory Service (CEAS) at gov.uk/guidance/childrens-education-advisory-service for specialist education advice for service families.