Funding Formula for Schools

In order that schools can make their own arrangements for the provision of education to their pupils, each school is entitled to its own delegated budget. Local Education Authorities are required to develop a simple, transparent and fair funding formula to distribute budget allocations to individual schools for this purpose.

The factors or criteria that can be contained within the Funding Formula are specified by statutory regulation. It is for each Local Education Authority to agree through consultation with it's schools which factors or criteria should be used in their formula and the relative weighting to be applied in the distribution of funds.

In respect of funding the education of pupils with special educational needs, the Council has issued additional guidance on funding responsibilities and other matters in the document titled Provision to meet special educational needs normally to be met from school funds and LEA central funds.

In addition, budgets, each school's budget must be set at least to the level of the Minimum Funding Level, as determined by the Government. The actual rate of increase changes each year in line with Government funding policy, and this sets the minimum budget that each school can receive, irrespective of the amount ordinarily calculated through an Authority's Funding Formula.

Whilst the Funding Formula allocates resources to schools for specific purposes, it is for schools to decide how the overall allocation should be spent. There is no requirement to spend at the level of budget allocated through the Formula for each school responsibility. Schools must ensure that any expenditure incurred is for the general purposes of the school, and in accordance with the conditions of the Council's Scheme for Financing Schools.

The level of funding attached to Formula Funding Factors is largely based on historic data which has been updated on an annual basis in line with Council funding decisions for inflation and other budget developments. The most recent fundamental review of funding factors was completed in February 2002. Following consultation with schools on proposed changes, the majority view was that other than a minor shift of funds from per pupil factors to social and educational needs criteria, the current balance of the different funding factors should be maintained. Therefore, historic values have been reviewed on an annual basis and changed on an incremental basis. Current values for each factor are detailed in Table 3 of the Annual Financial Statements required under Section 52 of the School Standards and Framework Act, 1998.