The early years pupil premium (EYPP) is additional funding for early years settings to improve the education they provide for disadvantaged 9-month-olds to 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds in ‘E1’, ‘E2’, ‘N1’ and ‘N2’ only.
- Disadvantaged pupils taking the 15 hours expanded entitlement for working parents will become eligible to receive early years pupil premium from the term following the child turning 9 months old.
- Disadvantaged pupils taking the 15 hours funded entitlement for disadvantaged 2-year-olds will become eligible to receive early years pupil premium from the term following their 2nd birthday.
- Disadvantaged pupils taking the universal 15 hours funded entitlement will become eligible to receive early years pupil premium from the term following their 3rd birthday.
They will retain this entitlement until they move from nursery (‘N1’ and ‘N2’) class into reception (‘R’), when they become eligible to receive the ‘mainstream’ pupil premium.
Children in receipt of EYPP in census week should be recorded with early years pupil premium receipt equal to ‘true’.
EYPP is paid by local authorities direct to settings. Its award is dependent on the application by parents of eligible children to their local authority, which will use the eligibility checking service to verify their application against benefits-related data.
Children are eligible to receive EYPP if they are taking any of the following:
-
universal funded entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds
-
disadvantaged entitlement for 2-year-olds
-
expanded entitlement for 9-month-olds to 2-year-olds
They must also either:
- meet benefits-related criteria equivalent to those for free school meals (receipt of free school meals does not automatically qualify a child for EYPP)
- be in the care of the local authority (in England or Wales)
-
have left care (in England or Wales) through:
- adoption
- special guardianship
- a child arrangements order (formerly known as a residence order)
We will use this data, collected via the spring census, to determine the early years pupil premium allocation for local authorities to fund their early years providers.
EYPP is not payable on the extended entitlement for 3 and 4-year-old children of working parents.
This table shows the cohorts of children for whom early years pupil premium data is required.
| Census | Age | Date of birth ranges |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn 2025 | 9-month-olds to one-year-olds | Born between 2023-09-01 and 2024-11-30 (inclusive) |
| Autumn 2025 | 2-year-olds | Born between 2022-09-01 and 2023-08-31 (inclusive) |
| Autumn 2025 | 3-year-olds | Born between 2021-09-01 and 2022-08-31 (inclusive) |
| Autumn 2025 | 4-year-olds – for schools not equal to phase ‘NS’: pupils in ‘E1’, ‘E2’, ‘N1’ or ‘N2’ only; for phase ‘NS’ only: all pupils within this age group | Born between 2020-09-01 and 2021-08-31 (inclusive) |
| Spring 2026 | 9-month-olds to one-year-olds | Born between 2024-01-01 and 2025-03-31 (inclusive) |
| Spring 2026 | 2-year-olds | Born between 2023-01-01 and 2023-12-31 (inclusive) |
| Spring 2026 | 3-year-olds | Born between 2021-01-01 and 2022-12-31 (inclusive) |
| Spring 2026 | 4-year-olds – for schools not equal to phase ‘NS’: pupils in ‘E1’, ‘E2’, ‘N1’ or ‘N2’ only; for phase ‘NS’ only: all pupils within this age group | Born between 2021-01-01 and 2021-08-31 (inclusive) |
| Summer 2026 | 9-month-olds to one-year-olds | Born between 2024-04-01 and 2025-06-30 (inclusive) |
| Summer 2026 | 2-year-olds | Born between 2023-04-01 and 2024-03-31 (inclusive) |
| Summer 2026 | 3-year-olds | Born between 2021-09-01 and 2023-03-31 (inclusive) |
| Summer 2026 | 4-year-olds – for schools not equal to phase ‘NS’: pupils in ‘E1’, ‘E2’, ‘N1’ or ‘N2’ only; for phase ‘NS’ only: all pupils within this age group | Born between 2021-04-01 and 2021-08-31 (inclusive) |
Pupils aged 4 at the start of the academic year in reception and above are eligible to receive the school-age pupil premium and therefore are not eligible to receive early years pupil premium funding.
For pupils in receipt of the early years pupil premium, we also need the reason why they are receiving.
| Code | Early years pupil premium basis for funding |
|---|---|
| RE | In receipt through eligibility for economic reasons: where they are in receipt via eligibility for the benefits related criteria for FSM |
| RO | In receipt through eligibility for other reasons: where they are in receipt due to eligibility for being in care or due to leaving care through adoption, a special guardianship order or a child arrangement order |
| RB | In receipt through eligibility for both reasons: where they are in receipt through eligibility for both economic and other reasons |
| RU | In receipt through eligibility for unknown basis: where the school knows the child is in receipt of EYPP (due to receiving funding from the local authority) but does not necessarily know the reason why |
Updated