Thousands of schools face “severe financial hardship” because of a technical funding change made “without warning” which meant that they got a measly 0.5 per cent per-pupil increase.
Minimum per-pupil funding levels (MPPFLs), which guarantee trusts and councils a certain amount of cash for each child they teach, usually rise at the same rate as school funding increases each year.
Since 2018, the rates have risen by between 3 and 7 per cent. But this year, the government only increased MPPFLs by 0.5 per cent, despite school funding rising overall by 1.9 per cent.
In its submission to the Treasury ahead of next months’ budget, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) warned the change was made with “no warning”.
