Grammar schools are set to be the biggest losers after ministers axed funding for academies to fight admission appeals.
The government announced earlier this year it would no longer give academies the cash to fight appeals heard after October 31.
The funding of £180 per appeal had been available for many years, but the move brings academies in line with council schools.
Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show more than £880,000 was paid to 141 schools to support them with admission appeal costs in 2024-25.
The figure was down from a record £1.4 million the year before and the lowest since 2016-17. A breakdown of the figures shows 22 schools were handed over £10,000 each last year.
Of these, eight (36 per cent) were grammars. Across England, just 164 of the country’s 22,000 schools (0.7 per cent) are selective.
Dr Nuala Burgess, of Comprehensive Future, said it was a “ridiculous irony” grammar schools “make money out of families who appeal against their decision-making”.
She added: “It is hardly surprising that grammar schools dominate appeal numbers. Conducting admissions by means of a highly controversial test is intrinsically unfair.
“When admissions are fairer and simpler, there are fewer appeals. Complex admissions create bureaucracy and disputes.
“Comprehensive schools are less likely to generate such high numbers for the simple reason that their admissions are essentially fairer.”
Schools received tens of thousands
Denbigh High School in Luton – which is not selective – received just under £39,000, more than any other school, last year.
Adrian Rogers, CEO of the Chiltern Learning Trust, which runs Denbigh, said it was “common” for the academy “to receive around 1,000 requests” for its 224 year 7 places.
But in the four years prior, grammar schools topped the list.
Langley Grammar School, in Slough, said the loss of the fund – through which it was given £15,300 in 2024-25 – “will increase the financial pressures on schools such as ours, which deal with a large volume of appeals every year”.
Dr Mark Fenton, CEO of the Grammar School Heads Association, said the government’s decision not to “sanction the expansion of selection has inevitably generated a high number of appeals”.
The cost falls “on schools’ budgets which are already under immense strain since grammar schools receive among the lowest level of funding of any schools in England”.
He added: “As many grammar schools operate a catchment area, it is also quite wrong to suggest that the high volume of appeals is wholly due to issues around the test. Many parents simply live too far from a grammar school to qualify for a place.”
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