The premium has been paid to schools since April 2011 to help them raise the attainment of their poorest students. From September this year, it will be worth £1,300 for each eligible primary school pupil and £935 for secondary pupils.
But 23% of more than 1,000 teachers surveyed for the trust by the National Foundation for Education Research said their schools spent the funds on raising attainment for all pupils or paying for other activities that have been affected by school budget reductions.
A further 22% said their school uses pupil premium funds to raise attainments for students who are falling behind, while half (53%) say it is used to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.
Commenting on the findings, Sutton Trust chair Sir Peter Lampl said: ‘The pupil premium was established to break the cycle of disadvantage that beings when poor children underachieve at school.
‘It’s vital that the funds to help these pupils are well targeted and used in a cost-effective way.’
The National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers said the figures were not a surprise.
General secretary Chris Keates said: ‘They are the consequence of the failure of the coalition to ensure there are appropriate checks and balances in the system to ensure all children receive their entitlement.
‘As with so much of the coalition's education policy it is the disadvantaged and vulnerable children who are penalised.’
