Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Deferred
Department prioritises funding towards disadvantage and early years, considering wider outcomes
Conclusion
The Department stressed that, without an unlimited budget, it would always need to make trade–offs in its funding decisions.35 It told us it is firstly aiming to increase the proportion of funding targeted towards disadvantage, as it believes this has a greater marginal impact on outcomes for disadvantaged children.36 Secondly, it planned to direct more funding towards the early years.37 The Department also described considering outcomes beyond academic attainment in its funding decisions, as illustrated through a decision to invest an additional £30 million in school breakfast clubs, following EEF finding that providing breakfast for five to seven year olds led to two months or more progress in maths, reading and behaviour, and wider attendance and behaviour benefits.38
Government Response Summary
The department is reviewing the allocation of core funding for schools, looking at the operation of the schools national funding formula (NFF), including the operation of “additional needs” funding in the NFF, with decisions for 2026-27 onwards informed by this review.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2025 2.2 The department is reviewing the allocation of core funding for schools. This review is looking at the operation of the schools national funding formula (NFF), including the operation of “additional needs” funding in the NFF. The NFF targets funding to areas with larger proportions of pupils with additional needs, including deprivation. The deprivation factors in the NFF act as broader proxy measures for schools that are most likely to need extra resources to support their pupils to reach their full potential – including pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND). 2.3 The department is reviewing the operation of the additional-needs factors within the NFF, including the weightings that they have within the formula. This will look at the evidence 28 base for these funding decisions, including the extent to which the factors used correlate with incidence of additional needs, including SEND. The interaction between pupil funding and NFF funding will be considered as part of this review. The NFF allocations and pupil premium funding rates for 2025-26 have already been published, and so the focus of the review will be on future funding years. This review will inform decisions on the NFF and pupil premium for 2026-27, and the following years of the spending review period.