A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) says that though plans to implement a single national funding formula for schools will create winners and losers, the system needs to be more consistent, transparent and responsive. The IFS acknowledges that at present “formulae can be myriad and complex: different local authorities take into account different factors and fund particular types of schools differently”.
The formula must be carefully thought out, with a fair adjustment of secondary to primary school funding, recognition that current deprivation funding (i.e. the pupil premium) is geared strongly towards secondary schools and recognise that some of the most deprived parts of the country ought to receive extra funds.
IFS asserts that any transitional period of less than a decade will involve significant, sustained losses for some schools. With the coalition’s reputation for rapid change in the education system it will be interesting to see whether they follow the IFS’s recommendations on the transitional period.
Hayley Roberts
0115 908 4862
hroberts@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: coalition government, coalition reform of education funding, Education, government, ifs, institute of fiscal studies, school funding, schools
