The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has today (Friday 17 March
2017) published a report on the impact of the government’s
proposed National Funding Formula for schools.
Malcolm Trobe, Interim General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said: “We welcome this
timely and incisive report which identifies that government
underfunding of the education sector is the key problem.
“The government deserves credit for committing to a funding
formula because the current system is unfair and needs to be
reformed. But the overall pot of money is too small and is not
sufficient to meet rising costs. This means a net loss for even
those schools which appear to ‘gain’ under the formula.
“As a result, the proposed level of basic funding per pupil
in the formula is too low to allow schools to operate. Additional
funding allocated for deprivation, low prior attainment and other
additional factors, will be needed just to lessen the impact of
cutbacks, rather than provide extra support, while schools which
receive little additional funding will be in dire straits.
“Government underfunding of education means all pupils will
suffer, including those who are disadvantaged and just about
managing. The government must invest more in the education system
to ensure that all schools are properly funded and fulfil its
commitment to improving social mobility.
“The government says it is spending record levels on schools,
but this is only because pupil numbers are rising. Funding per
pupil will fall by 8% in real terms between 2014-15 and 2019-20
and this means that schools must find £3 billion of savings in
their annual running costs1.”
1National Audit Office. Financial sustainability
of schools. 14 December 2016.
