Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that those pupils who are eligible to receive the service pupil premium are receiving that premium.

There are 68,771 pupils currently in receipt of the service premium. This information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2015-to-2016-allocations

Schools are encouraged to identify children eligible for the service premium in their school census returns. The service premium is allocated to schools based on these returns. Last October, the Department for Education wrote to Regional Schools Commissioners and sent information to local authorities providing details of the education measures under the Armed Forces Covenant, including the service premium.

We have protected the per pupil rates of the service premium for the duration of this parliament. Schools will thus continue to receive £300 for every eligible service child, and the service premium will continue to be in paid through the pupil premium grant to schools.