Minister of State for School Standards (): Today the Department for
Education has published local authorities' allocations through
the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for schools, high needs,
central schools services and early years for 2026-27.
Overall, core schools funding is increasing by £1.7 billion in
2026-27 compared to 2025-26, bringing total core schools funding
to £67 billion next year.
For mainstream schools funding, the DSG allocations update the
provisional national funding formula (NFF) allocations that were
published on 19th November 2025 with the latest pupil
numbers from the autumn 2025 school census. Nationally,
mainstream school funding in the DSG is increasing by 2.6% per
pupil in 2026-27 compared to 2025-26. This will support
mainstream schools with ongoing costs and deliver an excellent
education for all, including pupils with SEND.
High needs funding for local authorities was increased by over £1
billion, or 11%, in 2025-26 and funding will continue at this
increased level in 2026-27.This follows the announcements earlier
this month of targeted funding for SEND specialists in Best Start
Family Hubs to provide earlier intervention and support for
children and families, and the Department's announcement on
12thDecember of at least £3 billion of capital
investment between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to deliver 50,000
specialist places, in addition to 10,000 places to be delivered
through special and AP free schools or alternative funding for
local authorities.
Alongside the DSG allocations, pupil premium funding rates for
2026-27 have been published today. These rates are increasing by
2.23%, in line with the GDP deflator measure of inflation, as the
Government continues to invest in closing attainment gaps and
breaking the link between background and success.
The government will publish the Schools White Paper in the new
year, building on the work already done to create a system that
is rooted in inclusion, where every child receives high-quality
support early on, and can achieve and thrive in their local
school. The Government is undertaking a period of co-creation
with families, teachers and experts from across the sector to
hear their views and test proposals for reform. The White Paper
will set out further details on the investment provided for SEND
reform at Spending Review 2025 – on top of the DSG allocations
published today to deliver excellent, inclusive education for
every child.
In setting their budgets for 2026-27, local authorities will need
to continue to ensure that they fulfil existing statutory duties
to secure appropriate provision for children with EHCPs in both
mainstream schools and specialist settings, as well as support
moves to make the education system more inclusive, in the run up
to wider reform.
We recognise that the size of deficits that councils are accruing
while the Statutory Override is in place may not be manageable
with local resources alone, and will bring forward arrangements
to assist with them. The Government will provide further details
on our plans to support local authorities with historic and
accruing deficits and conditions for accessing such support later
in the Local Government Finance Settlement process. Support
provided to local authorities will be linked to assurance that
they are taking steps to make a reformed, inclusive education
system a reality, in conjunction with government confirming the
detail of SEND reform. Local authorities should not wait for
these details to assess their current plans to ensure they are
realising best outcomes and value for young people. Like all
areas of spending, we continue to expect local authorities to
make sure they are doing all they can locally to manage their
system effectively, ensuring the money is being spent in line
with best practice. This is a joint effort, with shared
responsibility between government, local authorities, health
partners, and schools.
Indicative allocations for the 2026-27 early years block of the
DSG have also been published. The early years block funds
government funded childcare hours which are crucial to delivering
our ambition for a record proportion of children to be starting
school ready by 2028 as set out in the ‘Giving Every Child the
Best Start in Life' strategy. In 2026-27, we expect to spend over
£9.5 billion on the early years entitlements - an over £1 billion
increase compared to 2025-26 which delivers an above inflation
increase to entitlements funding rates. Early years allocations
are updated based on the numbers of children taking up the
entitlements with final allocations available in July 2027. This
investment alongside the hard work and dedication of early years
educators, providers and local authorities has ensured the
successful expansion to government funded childcare, with the 30
hours rollout saving working families an average of £7,500 a
year.
The Dedicated Schools Grant allocations are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2026-to-2027
