A total of £118 million for disadvantaged pupils could be lost
from school budgets in England this year due to a government
change in how Pupil Premium funding is calculated, a new survey
by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals.
The LGA said councils stand ready to help the Government
prioritise disadvantaged pupils in its education recovery plan
and to prevent the attainment gap between disadvantaged children
and young people and their peers from widening further as a
result of the pandemic. It is urging the Government to ensure no
school will lose out on vital Pupil Premium funding this year.
Publicly funded schools in England get extra Pupil Premium
funding from the Government to help them improve the attainment
of their disadvantaged pupils. It amounts to £1,345 a year for
every eligible primary age pupil, or £955 for every eligible
secondary age pupil.
However, for the 2021/22 financial year this funding will be
based on the October 2020 census of pupils instead of the January
2021 census.
As a result, schools with children who have become eligible for
this funding – which pays for free school meals and academic
support - during the pandemic will not receive any additional
funding for another whole year.
An LGA survey of councils and analysis of government census
figures shows that this change could result in:
- a loss of Pupil Premium funding of around £93 million for
primary schools and £25 million for secondary schools;
- this equates to an average loss of around £600,000 in primary
school Pupil Premium funding per local authority area.
Not only have schools reported significant increases in costs
during COVID-19, they now face worrying funding reductions in
Pupil Premium funding. The LGA said that by changing the date of
Pupil Premium reporting, the Government can ensure that schools
receive Pupil Premium funding for all eligible pupils this year.
Cllr Teresa Heritage, Vice Chairman of the LGA’s Children and
Young People Board, said:
“Councils and schools want to work with the Government on
education recovery and share concerns about the needs of
disadvantaged children who have been disproportionately impacted
by the pandemic.
“There will be many schools with children who will have become
eligible for Pupil Premium between October and January who will
now not qualify for this extra funding for a whole year.
“Pupil Premium is vital to support the Government’s levelling up
agenda and education recovery plans. It is imperative that the
Government ensures that no school loses out in receiving this
vital funding this year and that no child is left behind.”
Notes to Editors
- Estimates are based on responses from 72 out of 151 relevant
councils in England (48 per cent) surveyed by the LGA. The
figures have been grossed to the equivalent of a 100 per cent
response using Department for Education census figures on the
numbers of pupils receiving free school meals for 2019/20.
|
Number of pupils
|
Ungrossed total
|
Grossed estimate
|
|
Primary FSM
|
33,405
|
69,412
|
|
Secondary FSM
|
12,141
|
26,304
|
- The average primary school in England received about £6,000
in extra funding through the £302
million Recovery Premium for state primary and secondary
schools.
- A survey by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT)
found that nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of schools had at
least five pupils who had become eligible for Pupil Premium
funding between the October and January census and therefore will
not receive this funding for 2021. Lost funding for five primary
pupils is £6,725 – more than the average £6,000 ‘catch-up’
recovery premium funding allocated to primary schools.
School
recovery funding ‘wiped out’ due to Pupil Premium changes – NAHT
survey
- Polling by the Sutton Trust also found that more than a third
(35 per cent) of primary school headteachers report that Pupil
Premium funding is being used to plug budget gaps elsewhere – up
from 22 per cent pre-pandemic in 2019.
School
funding and Pupil Premium 2021 – Sutton Trust survey.
