Secretary of State for Education (): Today, I can confirm
the publication of the provisional funding allocations for
mainstream schools and local authorities in 2026-27 through the
schools and central school services NFFs.
Provisional funding for mainstream schools through the schools
NFF will total £50.9 billion in 2026-27. To simplify the funding
system, the 2026-27 schools NFF includes funding for pay and
national insurance contributions costs that were previously
allocated outside the NFF. The funding for teachers' pay has been
converted to a full-year equivalent, so that it will support the
costs of the 2025 teachers' pay award across the whole 2026-27
funding year.
On top of this rolled-in funding, the core factor values in the
schools NFF are rising by 2.1%, to increase the funding available
to schools. Average per pupil funding in the NFF will rise to
£6,771 in 2026-27. The funding “floor” will be set at 0%,
continuing to ensure that the NFF protects schools against
cash-terms reductions in their pupil-led per pupil funding. The
NFF will continue to apply minimum per pupil funding levels.
Local authorities will continue to be responsible for operating
local funding formulae, which will determine the funding that
individual schools and academies in their area receive. The
actual funding that schools see will therefore, in many cases,
diverge from the NFF allocations that we are publishing today. To
support moves to a more consistent funding system, we will
continue to require those local authorities which are not already
“mirroring” the NFF in their local formulae to move closer to the
NFF.
The central school services block funds local authorities for the
ongoing responsibilities they continue to have for all schools,
and some historic spending commitments that local authorities
face. The central school services NFF for 2026-27 includes
funding for pay and national insurance contributions costs that
were previously allocated outside the NFF.
Updated allocations of schools and central school services
funding for 2026-27 will be published to the usual timescale in
December through the Dedicated Schools Grant allocations, taking
account of the latest pupil data at that point.
The publication of high needs allocations will follow by the end
of the year.
