School funding update November 2024
The Government’s commitment to education and public services set out in the Autumn Budget marks a step change in approach by the new government.
Provisional funding allocations for 2025/26 through the schools, high needs and central school services national funding formulae (NFFs) were released on 28 November 2024.
Overall, core schools funding, including funding for both mainstream schools and high needs, is increasing by £2.3 billion in 2025/26 compared to the previous year
High needs funding
Within this £2.3bn, high needs funding is increasing by a further £1 billion in 2025/26 to support local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.
The majority of the increase will be allocated through the high needs NFF. Through this formula, local authorities will receive at least a 7% increase per head of their population aged 2-18, compared to their 2024/25 allocations, with some authorities seeing gains of up to 10%.
The overall high needs funding increase of £1 billion includes more than £90 million to increase the high needs element of the 2024/25 core schools budget grant (CSBG) to a full-year equivalent of over £230 million.
This will be incorporated with the other teachers’ pay and pensions grants into a single CSBG, totalling £480 million, for special schools and alternative provision in 2025/26.
Core schools budget grant
Funding for schools through the schools NFF is increasing by 2.23% per pupil compared to 2024/25.
This includes a 1.28% increase to ensure that the 2024 teachers and support staff pay awards continue to be fully funded at national level in 2025/26. A suite of documents has been produced detailing the funding:
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The NFF policy document.
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The NFF allocations tables, summary table, and technical notes.
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Operational guidance for local authorities on school funding and high needs funding.
The 2025/26 schools NFF includes funding for pay and pensions costs that was previously allocated outside the NFF, but is now being rolled into the formula, the 2024 to 2025 Teachers’ Pay Additional grant (TPAG), Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution grant (TPECG) and Core Schools Budget grant (CSBG).
This ensures that this additional funding forms an ongoing part of schools’ core budgets.
On top of this rolled-in funding, the core factor values in the schools NFF are rising to increase the funding available to schools.
Through the minimum per-pupil funding levels, every primary school will attract at least £4,955 per pupil and every secondary school at least £6,465 per pupil.
Central school services
Central school services funding funds local authorities for the ongoing responsibilities they continue to have for all schools and some historical commitments that local authorities face.
The total provisional funding for ongoing responsibilities is £342 million in 2025/26, which includes £4 million, calculated as 7.1%, for additional costs of copyright licences for schools.
Across the schools, high needs and central services NFFs, the structure of the formulae is largely unchanged from 2024/25. This is to minimise disruption for schools and local authorities due to the shorter than usual timescales for the 2025/26 funding cycle, given the timing of the general election.
For 2026/27 and beyond, the government will consider changes to various funding formulae, recognising the importance of a fair funding system that directs funding where it is needed.
Updated allocations of schools, high needs and central schools services funding for 2025/26 will be published to the usual timescale in December through the Dedicated Schools Grant allocations, taking account of the latest pupil data at that point.
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