GCSEPod: How to make the biggest impact with your pupil premium funding

To maximise pupil premium funding for each and every pupil, schools will be looking to find innovative and cost-effective ways to transform pupils’ learning experiences - with tangible results. As the government website itself states, it wants to use the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EFF) strong evidence of ‘what works’ to support all schools across the UK.

With a multitude of resources out there to help improve GCSE results, it can be difficult to gauge what will make the biggest impact.

Read on to hear more about the positive impacts teachers across the UK have noticed since introducing the GCSEPod software, specifically when it comes to helping disadvantaged pupils’ to progress, supporting independent learning and confidence and bridging the gap between non-pupil premium and pupil premium students.

Using pupil premium funding to boost progress of disadvantaged students

In the past, traditional resources made it hard to accurately track and measure pupil premium students’ progress. Now, schools can directly monitor impact with GCSEPod - enabling these pupils’ to exceed initial expectations.

In fact, results showed that pupil premium funding students who accessed GCSEPod regularly (7 or more times) achieved 75% 5A*-C including English and Maths, compared to those students who did not access GCSEPod regularly.

On an individual level, many students who accessed GCSEPod made significant progress and exceeded their target grades, much to the delight of their teachers. The impact could not be clearer.

Developing independent learning in pupil premium students

Independent learning is a key component of GCSE success. However, for those who may face challenging circumstances outside the classroom, undertaking meaningful independent learning can be difficult.

One mixed secondary school in Staffordshire, St John Fisher Catholic College, was determined to develop independent learning across their Pupil Premium students. They wanted to encourage their most able students, while also being able to develop their use of digital technology.

Within 3 days of launching GCSEPod, 80% of students entitled to pupil premium funding had logged on and accessed Pods. Within a week, the school saw that all pupil premium students had logged on.

What’s more is that pupil premium students who accessed GCSEPod regularly achieved 82% 5A*-C including English and Maths, compared with 23% of pupil premium students who did not access the resource regularly - the results speak for themselves.

Seeing self-confidence skyrocket

It’s incredibly important that all students, including those eligible for pupil premium funding, gain confidence in their abilities. Young people of all academic abilities are more likely to fare better in their GCSE exams if they have confidence in their school work, according to research by The UCL Institute of Education.

One pupil at St Paul’s Catholic School is proof of this. Having purchased GCSEPod as a pupil premium resource primarily, the school worked closely with all of its pupil premium students during the launch, ensuring they not only had logged on, but that they fully understood the benefits it could offer to them and were confident in using it.

Assistant Head at St Paul’s Catholic School, Nora Ward, recalls of the student:

The student quickly became one of the top users in school, winning a GCSEPod pin and excelling in her mock exams.

To help your school narrow the gap between non-pupil premium and pupil premium students and make the most of pupil premium funding, find out more about GCSEPod here, available from as little as £1 per student per month.