School Funding

Wednesday 26th April 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb)]

Mainstream Schools Additional Grant

Today, the Department will publish the school-level allocations of the mainstream schools additional grant.

The autumn statement announced additional investment of £2 billion in each of 2023-24 and 2024-25, over and above funding announced at the 2021 spending review for schools in England. This means funding for both mainstream schools and high needs is £3.5 billion higher in 2023-24, compared to 2022-23.

Of the additional £2 billion provided at the autumn statement, £400 million is being allocated to local authorities’ high-needs budgets. The rest is being allocated to schools through a new grant for mainstream schools, the mainstream schools additional grant, and by increasing pupil premium funding rates.

The grant represents a significant funding increase for schools, worth an average 3.4% per pupil in 2023-24, on top of the allocations based on the schools national funding formula announced in July 2022. Through this new grant, a typical primary school with 200 pupils will receive approximately £35,000 in additional funding, and a typical secondary school with 900 pupils approximately £200,000.

National Funding Formula

Today the Department will also publish the Government’s response to the consultation on implementing the “direct” schools national funding formula.

Once the direct national funding formula is fully implemented, the Department will determine funding allocations for schools directly, without adjustment through local authorities’ funding formulae. The introduction in 2018-19 of the national funding formula for mainstream schools was a crucial step towards a fairer funding system. The changes set out in the Government’s response to the consultation will make the system fairer still and support the transition to the direct national funding formula.

The Government response summarises views raised by respondents to the consultation, and confirms two reforms that will commence in 2024-25, as part of the transition towards the direct national funding formula.

First, we are reforming funding for schools which operate across more than one site through a national formulaic approach to split sites within the national funding formula. This will ensure that funding is allocated consistently and fairly across England, and that all eligible schools attract funding towards the additional costs they face. This replaces the current system whereby only some of these schools receive additional funding, depending on local funding arrangements.

Secondly, we are making funding for schools which see significant increases in their pupil numbers more consistent across the country, by setting minimum levels of additional funding that every eligible school will receive.

I will place copies of the Government response on the national funding formula consultation in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS744]