Recommendations & Conclusions
5 items
8
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report - School Funding
Acknowledged
The written evidence that we received raised concerns about the impact of the national funding formula. Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope said that the formula had not delivered the expected significant increases in funding for small schools, including rural schools which have traditionally struggled to remain sustainable.8 The NASUWT (The Teachers’ Union) …
Read more
The written evidence that we received raised concerns about the impact of the national funding formula. Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope said that the formula had not delivered the expected significant increases in funding for small schools, including rural schools which have traditionally struggled to remain sustainable.8 The NASUWT (The Teachers’ Union) described the formula as “regressive”, and said that it was vital that the 17.9% of schools block funding which was allocated on the basis of pupil need did not reduce over time.9
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges concerns about the national funding formula (NFF) and reiterates its belief that the NFF distributes funding fairly. It further states it has published a consultation on moving to a direct, single national formula, with a gradual transition proposed from 2023-24 and annual …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report - School Funding
Acknowledged
Overall, between 2014–15 and 2020–21, the balance of funding shifted from secondary schools to primary schools. Secondary school funding per pupil fell by 3.9% in real terms, while primary school funding increased by 4.2%. The main cause of this shift was local authorities protecting funding for primary schools in their …
Read more
Overall, between 2014–15 and 2020–21, the balance of funding shifted from secondary schools to primary schools. Secondary school funding per pupil fell by 3.9% in real terms, while primary school funding increased by 4.2%. The main cause of this shift was local authorities protecting funding for primary schools in their local funding formulae. In addition, the Department reduced funding per sixth-form student, which fell by 11.4% in real terms.25
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation, stating its commitment to investing in 16-19 education, including school sixth forms, with an additional £1.6 billion by 2024-25, and will continue to consider how funding streams interact to support financial sustainability.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report - School Funding
Acknowledged
The Department said that it had looked carefully at the balance between funding for primary and secondary schools when it had designed the national funding formula.26 We asked whether school sixth forms were losing out in an attempt to prop up the rest of the system. The Department disagreed with …
Read more
The Department said that it had looked carefully at the balance between funding for primary and secondary schools when it had designed the national funding formula.26 We asked whether school sixth forms were losing out in an attempt to prop up the rest of the system. The Department disagreed with this suggestion, saying that government had needed to make some hard fiscal choices, and had chosen to prioritise and protect core funding for pupils aged 5 to 16. It also emphasised that funding for 16-to-19 education was now rising—the 2019 Spending Review had provided an extra £400 million (the biggest single year increase in post-16 funding since 2010), while the 2020 Spending Review had provided an extra £291 million.27
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges concerns about cross-subsidy and commits to continued investment in 16-19 education, noting additional funding made available. It states that the department will continue to consider how different funding streams interact to support the financial sustainability of schools with sixth forms.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report - School Funding
Acknowledged
The funding that schools receive is largely determined by how many pupils they have. Under the national funding formula, the Department allocates 73.5% of schools block funding based on pupil numbers. A further 17.9% of funding relates to the number of pupils with characteristics that indicate additional need, including deprivation …
Read more
The funding that schools receive is largely determined by how many pupils they have. Under the national funding formula, the Department allocates 73.5% of schools block funding based on pupil numbers. A further 17.9% of funding relates to the number of pupils with characteristics that indicate additional need, including deprivation and low prior attainment. The remaining 8.6% of funding is linked to school characteristics, and is intended to help cover costs that do not necessarily vary with pupil numbers.30
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observation on funding allocation and states it has published a consultation on moving to a direct, single national funding formula. It proposes a gradual transition from 2023-24 and will publish an annual analysis of its impact, with the first due …
Read full response →
HM Treasury
31
Conclusion
Twenty-First Report - School Funding
Acknowledged
The Department explained that it had begun a consultation process about moving to a hard funding formula on 8 July 2021. Ultimately, its goal was to allocate funding consistently across the system as whole, so that schools with the same characteristics and pupil needs would be funded at the same …
Read more
The Department explained that it had begun a consultation process about moving to a hard funding formula on 8 July 2021. Ultimately, its goal was to allocate funding consistently across the system as whole, so that schools with the same characteristics and pupil needs would be funded at the same level wherever in the country they were located.44 The Department said that it had not committed to a specific timetable for implementing the hard formula, because this was a complex reform that would take time to get right. The consultation proposed progressively bringing local authorities closer towards the national funding formula and evaluating the impact at each step. The Department told us that 73 local authorities were already mirroring the national funding formula almost exactly.45 Teachers’ starting salaries
Show less
Government response AI summary
The Department noted it has recently published a consultation document, 'Completing our Reforms to the NFF', which proposes moving to a direct funding allocation for schools based on a national formula.
Read full response →
HM Treasury