Last Friday, the government made a substantial announcement on school funding, promising an ‘increase in school funding’ of over £14.4bn.  It’s important to note that this represents the total cumulative cost over three years, not the additional sum that schools will receive.

This means that by 2022/23 school funding will be £7.1billion higher than it is now, and includes a promise of £700m of SEND funding for one year. The government has also committed £4.4bn over three years to fund the cost of increases to employers’ pension costs.  The announcement includes a promise that all primary schools will receive minimum funding of £4,000 per pupil, and secondaries £5,000 per pupil.

This represents a very significant increase and is a result of the extensive lobbying and dogged campaigning by NAHT members.  Our high profile campaign has included petitions, surveys, press releases, lobbying, pledges and negotiations.  We have made sure that school funding has stayed at the very top of the political agenda.

NAHT has offered a cautious welcome.  However, as always, the devil is in the detail.  We have yet to see the ‘Red Book’ setting out the underlying analysis.  Some of the additional funding is likely to be growth in pupil numbers, inflation and the cost associated with raising starting salaries for all new teachers to £30,000.  We will be conducting a full review of the detail when this is available.

The Education Policy Institute have provided helpful initial blog and analysis on the announcement, and research on the impact of levelling up per pupil funding.

First published 04 September 2019