Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of funding for schools in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, (b) Newcastle upon Tyne and (c) the North East since 2010.

This government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.

Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay and pensions, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs nationally is £2.9 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The overall core school budget will total £60.7 billion in 2024/25, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This means school funding is set to have risen by £11 billion by 2024/25, compared to 2021/22.

The department cannot provide funding comparisons for the Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne, or the North East back to 2010, as comparable data is not available. However, at national level, school funding will be 5.5% higher in real terms per pupil in 2024/25 compared to 2010/11 when using the GDP deflator measure of inflation which is based on independent Office for National Statistics and Office for Budget Responsibility data, the routine measure of public spending. The additional 2024/25 pensions funding is provided on top of that.

Mainstream schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency are attracting an extra £3.8 million in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24 through the schools national funding formula (NFF), an increase of 2.2% per pupil in their pupil-led funding. As a result, schools in the Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency will attract over £89.9 million, based on the schools NFF. Constituency figures are based on an aggregation of school-level allocations through the NFF.

Through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Newcastle upon Tyne local authority is receiving an extra £7.1 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £228.7 million. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 15.1% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).

Through the DSG, the North East is receiving an extra £45.7 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £2.0 billion. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 14.8% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).

All schools will receive additional funding through the Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant and Teachers' Pension Employer Contribution Grant 2024 in the 2024/25 financial year.

The precise funding that individual schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne and the North East will receive year-on-year will depend on each school’s unique circumstances, and the decisions that local authorities have made about how to deploy funding. The national funding formula is designed to fund each school according to its relative needs and is updated annually to reflect how those needs change over time.