The 2026–27 position at a glance
£2,690
Per eligible LAC or PLAC pupil for the 2026–27 financial year.
Reception–Year 11
Subject to the DfE eligibility and census rules.
Paid to school
For previously looked-after children, including qualifying adoption, SGO and child arrangements order routes.
Allocated to the LA
The Virtual School Head has a key role in use of LAC PP+ and how much is passed to the school.
Who PP+ covers
| Looked-after children (LAC) | Previously looked-after children (PLAC) |
|---|---|
| Children currently looked after by an English local authority. PP+ is allocated to the local authority. The VSH works with the setting around evidence-informed use linked to the child’s educational needs and PEP. | Children who were looked after by a local authority or other state care immediately before qualifying adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements routes. This includes qualifying adoption from state care outside England and Wales. Funding is allocated to the school. |
Facts vs myths
Myth: “PP+ is a personal £2,690 budget that must be spent only on my child.”
Not quite. DfE states that pupil premium is not a personal budget. Schools may use PP in ways that also benefit other pupils with identified needs. For PLAC, however, the setting remains responsible for using the grant on evidence-informed interventions to support the specific educational needs of PLAC attending the school.
Myth: “Once a child is adopted, PP+ stops.”
No. Eligible previously looked-after children continue to attract the PLAC rate under the current criteria. The funding route changes: PLAC funding is allocated to the school rather than managed as LAC PP+ through the local authority.
Myth: “PP+ is only for academic catch-up.”
No. Current DfE rules require spending to fit the permitted menu of approaches and to improve educational outcomes. Evidence-informed support can include approaches addressing wider barriers where they fit the DfE framework.
Myth: “Adopted children need a PEP.”
No statutory PEP is required simply because a child is PLAC. PEPs are part of the statutory planning framework for looked-after children. A school may use another planning tool for PLAC.
How PLAC status gets recorded
For the school census, parents or carers with parental responsibility decide whether to self-declare the child’s post-looked-after status to school. Schools should make families aware of this. The status is used so the school can attract the relevant pupil premium funding and the designated teacher can support the cohort.
Five better questions to ask
- Has my child’s eligible PLAC status been correctly recorded for the census?
- Who is the school’s designated teacher for looked-after and previously looked-after children?
- What specific educational need or barrier are we trying to address?
- What evidence-informed approach are we using, and what change should we expect to see?
- When will we review whether it is working?
For a previously looked-after child, a more useful conversation than “where is my child’s £2,690?” is: what need have we identified, what are we doing about it, and how will we know whether it helped?
Official sources
- Department for Education, Pupil premium: overview — 2026–27 rates and eligibility.
- Department for Education, Pupil premium: conditions of grant for the 2026 to 2027 financial year — permitted use, LAC and PLAC responsibilities.
- Department for Education, Pupil premium 2026 to 2027: technical note — allocation calculations and current rates.
- Department for Education, Complete the school census: data items 2026 to 2027 — post-looked-after declaration and census recording.
This guide explains the England position and is a practical summary, not legal advice. Check current DfE guidance if you are making a formal funding or compliance decision.
Funding is only useful if the conversation gets beyond the number.
If you’re trying to work out what school should be doing next, Braythorpe Access gives you somewhere to ask the question when it comes up.
Explore Braythorpe Access →Speak to Dave.
If this guide has helped but your situation doesn’t fit neatly into a page, send me an email. Tell me what’s happening and I’ll point you towards the most useful next step.