school funding | Schools Week

Hammond’s ‘little extras’ may not go directly to schools

Academy trusts will be able to pool the money their schools are awarded from the £400 million “little extras” pot and dish it out as they deem appropriate, Schools Week understands. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, pledged the in-year bonus during last week’s budget, suggesting the money could be spent on computers or whiteboards. He said […]

Heads question methods of glossy Westminster mag that charges £3,500 for exposure

A glossy magazine that charges schools thousands of pounds to be featured in its pages has been accused of misleading headteachers over its links to parliament. School leaders across England received letters last month telling them they had been selected to appear in The Parliamentary Review and attend a gala event in Westminster with politicians […]

The problem with Hammond’s ‘little extras’ budget pledge

The chancellor’s £400 million capital “bonus” for schools to buy “little extras” could end up with brand-new schools being handed as much cash as those where the “roof is falling in”. Philip Hammond said the money, a one-off injection this year in the form of grants, would be “useful” to fund things like “whiteboards and […]

Can schools make any more savings?

With chancellor Hammond’s autumn budget offering schools a one-off payment of £50,000 for “little extras” but no increase in revenue funding, a headteacher and a chief operating officer debate whether there are still areas where schools can make efficiency savings. Sean Maher is headteacher of a secondary academy in Richmond, West London. Micon Metcalfe is […]

“Little extras”: A failure of presentation, not policy

Philip Hammond could have scored a win today by announcing new capital funding for schools – but he packaged it up all wrong, laments Jonathan Simons There was the abolition of the 10p tax rate in 2007. There was the 75p pension increase in 1999. And there was the omnishambles budget in 2012, with pasty […]

The DfE’s repeated misuse of statistics is embarrassing

The Department for Education needs to start using statistics properly, or much of its evidence will simply be dismissed as untrustworthy, says Hetan Shah “I am writing to raise with you serious concerns about the DfE’s presentation and use of statistics”, starts the letter from Sir David Norgrove, chair of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), to […]

What are the routes to opening new VA schools?

To open a new school three things are needed: a proposer, permission, and capital funding, explains Simon Foulkes The government announced this month that it “will develop a scheme to help create new voluntary-aided (VA) schools for faith and other providers to meet local demand, supported by capital funding. The VA route already allows for […]

Which local authorities got flexibility on high needs funding?

In a move allowing certain local authorities greater control over special-needs funding, the education secretary has lavished Conservative-run councils with more flexibility. Councils are no longer able to freely move money from general schools funding to cover spikes in demand for higher-needs funding, which is used to pay for special needs places and excluded pupils. […]

Northants council plunders £9m from school improvement fund

A bankrupt county council siphoned off £9 million meant for school improvements in a desperate bid to prop up its depleted reserves, it has been revealed. Northamptonshire county council hit the headlines in February after its bank balance plummeted so low that it was forced to bring in what’s called a Section 114 notice, banning […]