Education unions have jointly called on the government to restore per pupil funding allocations to levels it announced in the summer before a mistake in the calculations was discovered.
The NEU teachers’ union, the NAHT school leaders’ union, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the NASUWT teaching union have told the Department for Education it should restore an estimated £370 million in expected allocations to schools for next year that was removed after it discovered it had underestimated pupil numbers in England.
Union bosses have said the £370 million cut in expected funding breaks a commitment made by schools’ minister Nick Gibb in the House of Commons in July that funding through the national funding formula (NFF) would increase by 2.7 per cent per pupil in 2024-25 compared with 2023-24.
It was announced on Friday that a technical error had been made in processing pupil numbers, and NFF allocations will now only increase by 1.9 per cent.
Mr Gibb said in July that from 2024-25 every primary school would receive at least £4,655 per pupil, and every secondary at least £6,050 per pupil. After the figures were revised, the minimum per pupil funding levels are now £4,610 for primaries and £5,995 for secondaries.
Call for school funding levels to be restored
In a letter addressed to education secretary Gillian Keegan, union general secretaries Daniel Kebede (NEU), Geoff Barton (ASCL), Patrick Roach (NASUWT) and Paul Whiteman (NAHT) write: “Government’s revisions to the NFF, in light of higher-than-forecast pupil numbers, effectively reduce the value of the NFF by £370 million.
“Schools are already having difficulty balancing their books; some will now face the very real prospect of cuts to provision.
“Sustained investment in the nation’s schools is desperately needed after years of austerity. We took Mr Gibb’s statement to the House as a government commitment to schools and parents. In both 2021 and 2022, the projected number of pupils varied from the actual number of pupils counted in the census. On both occasions, the government honoured the announced funding rates.”
The letter adds that “we call on your government to meet that commitment to invest in education by honouring the commitments your minister made and by restoring the original NFF rates”.
‘Grounds to reopen pay dispute’
Union bosses are further calling for the DfE to reveal exactly when the error was discovered and it was decided that NFF rates should be revised.
The DfE has admitted the funding mistake was discovered in September, though not specifically when. The error was not announced until 6 October.
Mr Kebede said at the weekend that potentially there are grounds to reopen the NEU’s pay dispute following the NFF recalculations.
In its new NFF document issued on Friday, the DfE said the total amount in the core schools budget will remain at £59.6 million.
The DfE has been approached for comment.
