SCHOOLS across Redditch are set to get an extra £97 for every pupil as part of a major shake-up of education funding.
The Government announced in March it was injecting an extra £350million into the country’s worst funded education authorities of which Worcestershire is one.
But it has now been revealed the amount being injected has been increased to £390million meaning Worcestershire will receive an extra £6.7million from 2015/16, up from the additional £5million already expected.
Every school in the county will now get at least £4,328 per pupil, up from £4,231. The money is on top of the pupil premium, which gives schools extra money to support disadvantaged children, which is rising to £1,300 for primary school children and £935 in secondary schools.
Despite the extra funding Worcestershire will still receive about £990 less per pupil than those in neighbouring Birmingham. But Schools Minister David Laws said the deal meant for the first time schools will be funded on the basis of the needs of their pupils rather than historic levels of spending, which would pave the way for a new national funding formula, after the next government spending review in 2015.
“This £390 million boost – £40 million more than was announced in March – is the biggest step toward fairer schools funding in a decade, and will go a long way to removing the historic unfairness of the funding system.” he said.
