Pre-16 schools, high needs and central services revenue funding for 2022 to 2023

The DfE has published provisional funding allocations for 2022 to 2023 through the schools, high needs and central school services national funding formulae (NFF).

The allocations and accompanying technical notes are available on the DfE web page National funding formula tables for schools and high needs: 2022 to 2023.

The DfE has also published school-level provisional allocations in an online tool that enables notional NFF funding for individual schools to be searched for on View national funding formula allocations for schools: 2022 to 2023.

This provides confirmation of the funding for schools under the NFF. However, because local authorities can continue to distribute funding in accordance with their local formula and multi-academy trusts can pool their schools’ General Annual Grant (GAG) funding, the funding received by individual schools may differ from the NFF allocation.

The allocations reflect the Government’s further increases to the funding blocks in 2022 to 2023:

  • School funding is increasing by 3.2% overall, and by 2.8% per pupil, compared with 2021 to 2022, with the funding floor allocating at least 2% more in pupil-led funding per pupil, and a 2% increase in minimum per pupil funding levels directing further increases to the lowest funded schools. The DfE has also further increased total funding through the sparsity factor from £42m to £95m in 2022 to 2023.

  • High needs funding is increasing by £780m, or 9.6%, in 2022 to 2023. This brings the total high needs budget to £8.9bn. The high needs NFF will ensure that every local authority receives at least an 8% increase per head of population. The DfE has made a technical change to the historic spend factor within the high needs national funding formula, following the consultation earlier this year. The factor has been updated to use 50% of local authorities’ actual spend data in 2017 to 2018 rather than their planned spend.

  • Central schools services funding in 2022 to 2023 will increase to £284m for the ongoing responsibilities that local authorities continue to have for all schools, while funding for historic commitments within this block will decrease by a further 20% for those local authorities in receipt of this funding.

The funding factors used in the 2022 to 2023 schools national formulae remain the same, but the DfE has made some technical changes:

  • Sparsity - The DfE is using road distances instead of straight-line distances in its calculations. The DfE is also introducing a new distance ‘taper’. These changes will significantly increase the number of schools attracting sparsity funding. See Schools national funding formula: changes to sparsity factor.

  • The DfE is decreasing the funding lag for the ‘FSM6’ deprivation funding factor by nine months, by moving from using the previous year’s January census to the October census for measuring eligibility.

  • In calculating low prior attainment proportions, data from the 2019 early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) and key stage 2 (KS2) tests is used as a proxy for the 2020 tests, following the cancellation of assessment due to the pandemic.

  • Pupils who joined a school between January and May 2020 attract funding for mobility on the basis of their entry date, rather than by virtue of the May school census being their first census at the current school (the May 2020 census did not take place due to the pandemic).

  • Schools’ business rates will be paid by ESFA to billing authorities directly on behalf of all state-funded schools from 2022 to 2023 onwards. Further details on this will be issued separately within the formal consultation response over the summer.

Local authorities will continue to determine final allocations for all local mainstream schools in 2022 to 2023. The DfE is in the process of consulting on moving to a hard NFF and the NASUWT will provide advice about this consultation shortly: Fair school funding for all: completing our reforms to the National Funding Formula.

The DfE’s 2022 to 2023 NFF policy document provides further information about changes to the national formulae: National funding formula for schools and high needs.

These changes, and detail about local funding arrangements in 2022 to 2023, are also outlined in the DfE’s schools funding operational guide: Pre-16 schools funding: local authority guidance for 2022 to 2023.

The NASUWT continues to campaign for substantially increased school funding, including to cover the costs to schools of the coronavirus pandemic, and the Union’s campaigning materials are available on the website.

Advice for NASUWT members

If members are concerned about any school funding issue, including funding decisions made by their school, local authority or multi-academy trust, please contact the Union.

The NASUWT will continue to lobby all UK Governments for substantial investment in schools and in the school workforce.