Schools with the most disadvantaged pupils are likely to face the biggest funding cuts when the government reallocates school funding, according to the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
Calculations made by schoolcuts.org.uk — a new interactive map from both unions enabling users to see how each individual school could be affected in ‘real terms’ by the government’s intention to implement a new funding formula for schools, alongside ‘real terms’ cuts to funding per pupil –demonstrates that if the government reallocates the existing overall schools’ budget:
- Nine in ten schools in England (92 per cent) could face budget cuts in ‘real terms’ over the next four years;
- Schools with the most deprived intakes would face the greatest average losses in ‘real terms’:£579 per pupil in primary schools, and £784 in secondaries;
- The average ‘real terms’ loss for primary schools would be £96,481, or £401 per pupil;
- The average ‘real terms’ loss for secondary schools would be £290,228, or £365 per pupil;
- Average budget cuts could be 6.5 per centin primary schools and nine per cent in secondary schools;
- No local authority area is likely to see a ‘real terms’ funding increase for its schools and academies, even after the re-distributive impact of a new formula.
General Secretary at the NUT, Kevin Courtney said: “No head teacher should be put in the position of increasing class sizes, leaving building repairs undone or cutting staff and resources simply to balance the books. Nor should any parent accept this for their child. We are one of the richest countries in the world. We can and we should be funding our schools properly.”
By entering a postcode on the website homepage, users can see how all the schools in any particular area are likely to fare between now and 2020, and how estimated funding loss equates into numbers of teacher posts.
The website’s formula is based on the government’s own school data and spending plans, as well as the Institute for Fiscal Studies projections for the cost of inflation and other cost increases, and the new funding formula proposed by the influential f40 campaign group of local authorities.
Read the full briefing of the data here
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