In one sentence
Keep challenge high, remove practical barriers, and make the route to success visible from the first minute.
Vulnerability profile
Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium signals increased risk of financial and social barriers; it is not a fixed learner type.
Quick view: ~2 min
Full page: ~10-15 min
Last reviewed: 8 February 2026
Owner: Inclusion and Pupil Premium Team
Quick view
Rapid response mode for today and this week.
What you might notice in school
- Inconsistent equipment or readiness at lesson start.
- Homework affected by limited space, devices, or internet.
- Low-level lateness linked to transport or home pressure.
- Avoidance of optional costed activities.
- Knowledge gaps linked to disrupted attendance.
- Low help-seeking to avoid embarrassment.
Do now (today / this lesson)
- Start with a no-friction first task and modelled example.
- Provide private equipment support and move on quickly.
- Use clear success criteria and one mid-lesson checkpoint.
- Set home learning with an in-school completion alternative.
- Reinforce high expectations with practical support.
Do next (this week)
- Identify students needing proactive practical support.
- Pre-plan costed activities so no student is excluded.
- Add routine recap windows for missed core knowledge.
- Track attendance and completion patterns early.
- Align tutor, subject, and pastoral messaging.
Avoid
- Do not lower ambition.
- Do not discuss family finances publicly.
- Do not assume home-resource access.
Who can help
- Pupil Premium lead
- Form tutor and year team
- Attendance and pastoral teams
- Subject leaders
Go deeper
Deep dive mode for planning, implementation review, and INSET.
- Access barriers: equipment, transport, digital access, and study space.
- Interrupted attendance can create curriculum sequence gaps.
- Stress outside school can reduce working memory and attention.
- Cost anxiety can suppress participation and belonging.
- Homework systems can fail when home conditions are unstable.
- Low output can be misread as low effort rather than access friction.
- Refusal of optional events can be misread as disengagement.
- Silence can be misread as apathy rather than dignity-protection.
- Repeated readiness sanctions can mask structural barriers.
- Variable performance can be context-driven, not attitude-driven.
- Front-load key vocabulary and prior knowledge.
- Use modelled starts and visible success criteria.
- Provide discreet equipment and printing routes.
- Build retrieval and recap into routine lesson architecture.
- Offer flexible completion routes for independent work.
- Track repeated patterns and intervene early.
- Use safeguarding systems when unmet-need indicators escalate.
- Start with practical attendance supports before sanction escalation.
- Keep communication factual, calm, and solution-focused.
- Escalate promptly where welfare risk is suspected.
- "Let us make sure you can start this right now."
- "You can catch up; we will bridge this step by step."
- "I will keep expectations high and make the route clear."
- "Tell me the barrier; we will remove the first one now."
- "Use the in-school route this week if home study is hard."
- Lead with strengths and next steps.
- Keep communication practical and brief.
- Offer flexible contact routes where possible.
- Avoid assumptions; ask what is realistic this week.
- Signpost support early, before crisis point.
Start here
Go deeper
School's Guide to Implementation
Education Endowment Foundation | guidance | leader | 60 min
Helps teams avoid implementation failure points.
Working together to improve school attendance
Department for Education | guidance | leader | 15 min
Useful for practical attendance systems.
Making a Difference with Effective Tutoring
Education Endowment Foundation | guidance | teacher | 15 min
Supports targeted catch-up without lowering ambition.
Books
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