Catholic schools have long been criticised for failing to focus on poorer children. If this is the case, there is a way they can get extra government money for these pupils, as Jeremy Sutcliffe explains It is nearly three years since the Government introduced the pupil premium. The ambitious policy aims to raise the achievement of children from poorer families by providing schools with extra cash to help them catch up with children from more affluent backgrounds who currently outperform them by a considerable margin.Since the premium was introduced in April 2011, the amount of targeted funding available to schools has grown substantially. In the current academic year, all state schools have received an additional £900 for every “disadvantaged” child, with the criteria b