England’s poorest schools lose £90m through change to pupil premium funding

Schools in England are to lose out to the tune of £90m due to changes to pupil premium funding for the most disadvantaged children, it has been revealed.

Labour branded the move “totally unacceptable”, warning it will hit support for children who have had the greatest difficulties learning from home during lockdown.

The cut comes as a result of a change - first revealed in The Independent - in the date for calculating how many children are eligible for the premium payments, worth £1,345 a head for primaries and £955 in secondaries for pupils receiving free school meals.

The cutoff was quietly switched from January 2021 to October 2020, with schools complaining they were told too late to encourage parents to register their children for the scheme.

New details released by the Department for Education show that there will be 67,189 fewer eligible pupils in primary schools as a result, cutting funding through the scheme by £92,445,582. While secondary schools will benefit by £2,589,472 due to having 4,973 more recipients, the overall loss to schools will be £89,856,109.

The DFE said that the reductions did not result in an overall cut to pupil premium payments, which will rise by £60m to more than £2.5bn, with the majority of schools receiving increased allocations.

But Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green said: “The government has finally admitted that schools are going to lose out on funding because of their ill-thought through changes to pupil premium.

“Far from having ‘no direct impact’ schools are set to lose £90 million, hitting support for the children who’ve struggled most to learn from home.

“The government has treated children as an afterthought throughout the last year, is severely underfunding children’s recovery, and is stripping away support from the kids who need it most. This is utterly unacceptable.”

And Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Daisy Cooper described the move as “shameful penny-pinching”.

“The Tories talk about the importance of levelling up in our education system, but the reality is they have cut vital funding which gives support to the poorest pupils,” “said Ms Cooper.

“The government must reverse this disgraceful, short-sighted move and backdate payments to schools for the money they have missed out on.”

A DFE spokesperson said: “Using the October census for pupil premium allocation means schools will now know their full budget earlier in the year, helping them to plan ahead. Any pupil who became eligible after the October census will attract funding in the following financial year.

“We are committed to ensuring all children have access to good quality education, no matter their background.”