'More than 10,000 schools' to receive funding increase under new formula

More than 10,000 schools will see their funding increase under the government's new funding formula, Justine Greening has announced.

The Education Secretary said more than 3,000 schools will receive an increase of more than 5% as the government looks to replace the "unfair, opaque and outdated" funding system.

Meanwhile, any schools losing out under the new deal will have their losses limited with none to face an overall reduction in per pupil funding of more than 3%.

Ms Greening said the formula would consist of a base rate for every pupil, an "uplift" for children from disadvantaged families and a portion directed at helping those with low prior attainment to ensure they can "catch up with their peers".

She also pledged to protect small, rural schools through the inclusion of a "sparsity factor".

The Education Secretary also said that more than £5 billion per year will be allocated for the funding of services for high needs children and that "no local authority will see their funding reduce as a result of the formula being introduced".

Speaking in the Commons, Ms Greening said: “The proposals for funding reform will mean that all schools and local areas will now receive a consistent and a fair share of the schools budget, so that they can have the best possible chance to give every child the opportunity to reach their full potential.”

Consultation on the government's funding formula is due to run for 14 weeks until March 22, with final decisions to be made before summer 2017 - and the final formula to be rolled out in 2018/19.

Ms Greening's statement on the national funding formulae for schools and high needs came after the National Audit Office warned that schools in England face an 8% real terms reduction in funding per pupil by 2019/20 because of cost pressures.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said the proposed new formula would not change the funding problems faced by schools.

"If only it lived up to its name as a fair funding formula," she said.

"Does the Secretary of State recall the commitment in her party's manifesto to continue to protect school funding?

"Does she accept that the National Audit Office now confirms what the IFS (the Institute for Fiscal Studies) had already told us but that she tried to ignore, the Government will be cutting the schools budget by at least 8%.

"That is not changed at all by today's announcement."