The EEF Guide to the Early Years Pupil Premium

Published

Introducing the balanced approach

How to spend your EYPP

When you take a balanced approach to spending your Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP), you can make sure that you are:

  • Continuing to develop quality practice to deliver the greatest benefits for children from lower-income families.
  • Considering the particular strengths and needs of each child.
  • Making and embedding changes to practice, so that your EYPP funding continues to benefit children from lower-income families in the future.

The balanced approach aligns with the Department for Education’s (DfE) guidance for local authorities, so you can be confident that your approach meets their expectations.

Our experience has reinforced that EYPP funding can have the greatest impact when it is used as part of a balanced, evidence-informed strategy. By focusing on quality, professional development and purposeful use of resources, we are better placed to support children from lower-income backgrounds and improve outcomes across our settings. The power of EYPP lies not in what we buy, but in what we do.

Nicola Cherry

Early Years Delivery Manager and EEF Evidence Advocate