School funding

School budget ‘chaos’ after DfE’s £370m funding gaffe

Top boss apologises and education secretary orders investigation after error leaves many schools with tens of thousands of pounds less than expected

Top boss apologises and education secretary orders investigation after error leaves many schools with tens of thousands of pounds less than expected

Susan Acland-Hood

An investigation is underway into how Department for Education officials made an error in school funding allocations for next year that means schools will now have £370 million less than promised.

Permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood has today apologised, and education secretary Gillian Keegan has ordered a review of DfE quality assurance processes after identifying an error forecasting pupil numbers.

School leaders will be rightly angry that basic accounting errors may force them to rethink already tight budgets

Schools Week understands the error was identified in September. It was not announced until around 5pm on Friday – two days after the Conservative party conference finished.

Left unaddressed, the error would mean the cost of the core schools budget would be 0.62 per cent greater than allocated in 2024-25. The budget is due to be £59.6 billion next year, so an error of that size would equal around £370 million.

Schools have not received funding allocations for 2024-25 yet, so addressing the error will not result in any clawback. Their allocations would also be based on pupil numbers in the October school census, conducted yesterday.

Funding rise revised down

Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman

However, allocations data published in July is used by schools and councils to give themselves an indicative idea of their future budgets.

New allocations data has been published this evening – leaving leaders scrambling to redo budgets with less cash than promised.

The DfE told schools in July that funding through the mainstream schools national funding formula “is increasing by 2.7 per cent per pupil in 2024-25”.

Today’s updated guidance states the rise will be just 1.9 per cent.

The government’s prediction for the minimum per-pupil funding for secondary schools has been revised down by £55. At primary level it’s down £45.

Based on these figures, the average secondary school would be £57,970 worse-off than predicted in July, and the average primary would be £12,420 worse-off.

‘Chaos at the heart of government’

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the admission “speaks volumes about the chaos at the heart of government”.

“School leaders will be rightly angry that basic accounting errors may force them to rethink already tight budgets as a result of the erroneous figures they were provided. Many may now have to revisit crucial decisions around staffing or support for pupils as budgets are reduced.”

Geoff Barton, of the ASCL leaders’ union, said it was an “extremely unfortunate and frustrating error”.

“Even though schools have not received their 2024-25 funding, it is likely that trusts and local authorities will have used the incorrect figures in their budget planning and will now need to revise those budgets with the corrected figures.

“This is the last thing they need on top of all the other demands on their time.”

In a letter to education select committee chair Robin Walker, Acland-Hood said: “I apologise for this error.

“The secretary of state has asked me to conduct a formal review of the quality assurance process surrounding the calculation of the NFF, with independent scrutiny.

“Improvements have already been identified to ensure similar mistakes are not repeated in the future.”

Error ‘does not affect total spend’ on schools

The recalculation of funding “does not affect the total amount we plan to spend in the
core schools dudget in 2024-25 – which includes funding for mainstream schools,
and funding for high needs”.

“It will remain at £59.6bn in 2024-25, the highest ever in real terms per pupil.”

Acland-Hood said the correction of this error “does not mean adjusting any funding that schools have already received”.

“Likewise, the error will not impact on the publication of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) in December, or when schools will receive their final allocations for 2024-25.

It is understood the mistake was down to pupil numbers for a council that recently split into two not being counted. Just the pupil numbers for the original council, and not the new one, were factored into funding calculations.

“Nevertheless, we recognise that the correction of this error will be difficult for local
authorities and frustrating for some school leaders, which is why the Department has
worked as quickly as possible to rectify the error,” Acland-Hood added.

“We will work closely with school stakeholders, including unions, to communicate this change and support schools and local authorities.”

But Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said “at the very minimum”, Keegan “must honour the funding schools were told they would receive in July.

“Head teachers have planned for that money and budgets are already pared to the bone.”

Latest education roles from

IT Technician

IT Technician

Harris Academy Morden

Teacher of Geography

Teacher of Geography

Harris Academy Orpington

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Exams Assistant

Exams Assistant

Richmond and Hillcroft Adult & Community College

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Solihull College and University Centre

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

It’s Education’s Time to Shine: Celebrate your Education Community in 2025!

The deadline is approaching to nominate a colleague, team, whole school or college for the 2025 Pearson National Teaching...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Navigating NPQ Funding Cuts: An Apprenticeship Success Story

Last year’s NPQ funding cuts meant that half of England’s teachers faced costs of up to £4,000 to complete...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Embedding Formative Assessment: not just a box-ticking exercise but something long-term and meaningful for all

Our EFA programme has been proven to help schools achieve better GCSE results, as evidenced by the EEF. Find...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Building capacity in family support to tackle low school attendance 

Persistent and severe school absence impacts children, families, and communities—especially in disadvantaged areas. School-Home Support’s Attendance Support and Development Programme...

SWAdvertorial

More from this theme

School funding

‘Jobs on the line’ as Devon schools hit by software ‘glitch’

'I redid my whole budget about four times before I finally got it to give me correct figures'

Rosa Furneaux
School funding

20% rise in council primaries in deficit, but secondaries improve slightly

New data shows primary and special schools hit hardest by cuts - as the proportion of LA-run schools in...

Jack Dyson
School funding

Cost-cutter founder loses out on £7 million contract

Institute of School Business Leaders will no longer be responsible for supplying the money-saving experts

Jack Dyson
School funding

Schools’ costs likely to outstrip budget funding boost

DfE says more than half of the expected per-pupil uplift will have to cover this year's teacher pay rise

Freddie Whittaker

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

One comment

  1. Bryan Tookey

    Poor journalism in my opinion: you do not clearly explain how the “error in forecasting pupil numbers” affects the school budgets for 2024/25. Is it
    a) there are more pupils than previous forecast and so the expected actual costs go up 0.62% vs a budget which is already set in 2024/25?
    or
    b) there are fewer pupils than previous forecast and so the budget will auto-adjust to give 0.62% lower amount to schools?
    Also I would expect the journalist to investigate why the forecast was wrong.
    (Finally, how can anyone quote such a patently ridiculous remark as this shows the chaos at the heart of government without critical comment; I am fairly sure that the “heart of government” is not, and should not be, quality assurance processes of pupil forecasts!)