The starting point for this study is the lower average attainment and disrupted education of children who become looked after by the state in England. In 2011 the government introduced Pupil Premium Plus, a high-level intervention whereby a pot of money was ring-fenced to be distributed to schools based on a headcount of looked after children on the roll. The cash – initially set at £400 per pupil, and subsequently raised to £2,345 – was provided to schools, initially directly, but in a later refinement via a local authority’s ‘virtual school, based on applications from schools outlining how the money would be used to benefit the education of looked after children.