Pupil Equity Funding: national operational guidance 2023

What is Pupil Equity Funding?

Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) is additional funding allocated directly to schools and targeted at closing the poverty-related attainment gap. The Scottish Government has committed to this funding as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) programme from 2017/18 up until 2025/26. This investment further empowers headteachers and Local Government to achieve their ambitions to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty.

Pupil Equity Funding is part of the Attainment Scotland Fund (ASF).

The mission of the Scottish Attainment Challenge is:

to use education to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap.

This national guidance is intended to help schools plan how they will most effectively and fully invest their Pupil Equity Funding allocation to improve the educational outcomes of children affected by poverty. Local authorities are advised to issue specific complementary guidance about how the funding will operate locally.