DfE announces school funding reforms

The Department for Education (DfE) has published its long delayed reforms to the way funding is allocated to schools across England, which the DfE claims will ‘end the postcode lottery of school funding’.

The new ‘fairer funding’ proposals will not increase overall spending but look to redistribute it, so that schools with similar students from similar backgrounds receive the same levels of funding.

The DfE described the current system as ‘unfair, opaque and outdated’, claiming that it is based on out of date data and ‘patchy and inconsistent decisions’.

Under the new funding formula, large schools in cities such as London and Birmingham will have their funding cut, while places such as Buckinghamshire, West Sussex, Bath and Bournemouth will have their budgets increased.

The new formula will be introduced from 2018-19 and will see some schools receive an increase of up to three per cent in the first year and then 2.5 per cent in the following year.

Comparatively, some schools will see a reduction of up to 1.5 per cent per pupil per year, up to a maximum of three per cent.

Greening said: “Our proposed reforms will mean an end to historical unfairness and underfunding for certain schools.

“We need a system that funds schools according to the needs of their pupils rather than their postcode, levelling the playing field and giving parents the confidence that every child will have an equal opportunity to reach their full potential.”