school funding | Schools Week

Study finds pupil premium cuts £43m worse than DfE admits

Schools will miss out on £43 million more in pupil premium funding for the poorest children than admitted by the government, new analysis suggests. The Education Datalab research indicates almost 104,000 children receiving free school meals will not attract extra funding after the government’s “stealth cut”. The Department for Education’s own analysis published last month […]

£45 million for schools to prevent violence ‘nowhere near’ amount needed

Experts have warned £45 million package of school funding is “nowhere near” enough to tackle youth violence, highlighting a decade of cutbacks to public services and the need for more wide-ranging reforms. The government announced the funding on Monday as part of a wider “beating crime plan”, promising to launch schools-based taskforces in “serious violence […]

Treasury marks DfE’s 11,500-word homework laying out its vision

The Department for Education has published an 11,590-word “outcome delivery plan,” detailing the wide-ranging goals and performance metrics it agreed with the Treasury last year to justify its funding. Sector leaders welcomed the move to greater transparency and accountability. But they said the DfE’s plan lacked detail overall and lacked metrics in significant areas, including […]

National funding formula: Extra cash for 1,300 remote schools

The government has more than doubled a funding pot for small schools in remote areas, with up to 1,300 more schools eligible for the cash next year. The Department for Education outlined on Monday how NFF cash will be allocated in 2022-23, including what individual schools would receive if every council adopted the “hard” NFF. […]

School playing field sales hit 3-year high as Johnson pledges £50m football pitch investment

Sales of school playing fields hit a three-year high last year, it has emerged, on the same day Boris Johnson pledged tens of millions for new football pitches across England. The prime minister used a major speech on his “levelling up” agenda to announce £50 million in government investment in football pitches. It will ensure […]

Great professional development for all teachers? It’s more affordable than you think

How much would it cost to give teachers a formal entitlement to continuing professional development? Not as much as you might think, writes James Zuccollo. Professional development for teachers is a surprisingly controversial topic. It is widely believed by policy wonks and researchers to have enormous potential, yet many teachers consider it a distraction. How […]

Exam changes can’t compensate for Covid hit to disadvantaged pupils, says government

Changes to next year’s exams cannot compensate for pupils’ divided experiences during the pandemic, the government has said, even as research from its own exams regulator laid bare the disruption to disadvantaged children’s education. On Monday, Ofqual and the Department for Education published a consultation on measures to “help mitigate the impact of disruption” for […]

Breakfast clubs: Schools to pay 25% of costs from next year

Schools will have to contribute 25 per cent of the costs of running breakfast clubs under the national scheme from next year, after the government announced a cut in subsidies. And only one of the two providers that has delivered the programme to-date will be taking it forward, the government has confirmed. The Department for […]