Government delivers on its promise to level up school funding across the country
The Government is today (19 December) informing local authorities across the country how much extra money they will receive next year from its multi-billion-pound investment in primary and secondary education.
In another step towards delivering on the government’s pledge to invest a total of £14 billion more over the next three years, the Department for Education has published a breakdown of exactly how much money is being allocated to local authorities in England next year (2020-21) based on the latest pupil numbers.
Every school will get more money for every child – “levelling up” funding and helping to spread equality of opportunity for all – with every school set to receive the new minima of £5,000 per-pupil funding for secondary schools next year, and £3,750 for primaries, rising to £4,000 the following year. There will be big increases for the schools that need it most.
School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:
We are delivering on our promise to level up funding to make sure every school receives more money for every child in the classroom.
Investing an additional £2.6 billion next year and an additional £7.1 billion a year by 2022-23 is an investment in the education and future of our young people and the dedicated teachers and staff who support them.
Today’s figures follow the Prime Minister’s announcement earlier this year that the budget for schools and high needs would be increased by £2.6 billion next year, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23 respectively – plus an extra £1.5 billion per year to fund additional pensions costs for teachers.
This total includes £780 million extra in 2020-21 to help children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to reach their potential. Overall, this will bring the schools budget to £52.2 billion by 2022-23.
In October, the Government set out provisional allocations for schools and local authorities under the National Funding Formula. Today, we are confirming those allocations for local authorities – based on the latest pupil numbers.
The extra money, available from April, will:
Ensure that per-pupil funding for all schools can rise at least in line with inflation
Progress the implementation of our National Funding Formula, delivering promised gains in full for areas which have been historically under-funded
Help schools to plan their budgets for the next financial year