Dedicated Schools Grant

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

Today the Department for Education has published local authorities’ allocations through the dedicated schools grant for schools, high needs, central schools services and early years for 2026-27. Overall, core schools funding is increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026-27 compared with 2025-26, bringing total core schools funding to £67 billion next year.

For mainstream schools funding, the DSG allocations update the provisional national funding formula allocations that were published on 19 November 2025 with the latest pupil numbers from the autumn 2025 school census. Nationally, mainstream school funding in the DSG is increasing by 2.6% per pupil in 2026-27 compared with 2025-26. This will support mainstream schools with ongoing costs and deliver an excellent education for all, including pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

High-needs funding for local authorities was increased by over £1 billion, or 11%, in 2025-26, and funding will continue at this increased level in 2026-27. This follows the announcements earlier this month of targeted funding for SEND specialists in Best Start family hubs to provide earlier intervention and support for children and families, and the Department’s announcement on 12 December of at least £3 billion of capital investment between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to deliver 50,000 specialist places, in addition to 10,000 places to be delivered through special and alternative provision free schools or alternative funding for local authorities.

Alongside the DSG allocations, pupil premium funding rates for 2026-27 have been published today. These rates are increasing by 2.23%, in line with the GDP deflator measure of inflation, as the Government continue to invest in closing attainment gaps and breaking the link between background and success.

The Government will publish the Schools White Paper in the new year, building on the work already done to create a system that is rooted in inclusion, where every child receives high-quality support early on and can achieve and thrive in their local school. The Government are undertaking a period of co-creation with families, teachers and experts from across the sector to hear their views and test proposals for reform. The White Paper will set out further details on the investment provided for SEND reform at spending review 2025—on top of the DSG allocations published today to deliver excellent, inclusive education for every child.

In setting their budgets for 2026-27, local authorities will need to continue to ensure that they fulfil existing statutory duties to secure appropriate provision for children with education, health and care plans in both mainstream schools and specialist settings, as well as support moves to make the education system more inclusive, in the run-up to wider reform.

We recognise that the size of deficits that councils are accruing while the statutory override is in place may not be manageable with local resources alone, and will bring forward arrangements to assist with them. The Government will provide further details on our plans to support local authorities with historical and accruing deficits, and on conditions for accessing such support, later in the local government finance settlement process. Support provided to local authorities will be linked to assurance that they are taking steps to make a reformed, inclusive education system a reality, in conjunction with the Government confirming the detail of SEND reform. Local authorities should not wait for these details to assess their current plans to ensure they are realising best outcomes and value for young people. Like all areas of spending, we continue to expect local authorities to make sure they are doing all they can locally to manage their system effectively, ensuring the money is being spent in line with best practice. This is a joint effort, with shared responsibility between Government, local authorities, health partners and schools.

Indicative allocations for the 2026-27 early years block of the DSG have also been published. The early years block funds Government-funded childcare hours, which are crucial to delivering our ambition for a record proportion of children to be starting school ready by 2028, as set out in the “Giving every child the best start in life” strategy. In 2026-27, we expect to spend over £9.5 billion on the early years entitlements—an increase of over £1 billion compared with 2025-26 that delivers an above-inflation increase to entitlements funding rates. Early years allocations are updated based on the numbers of children taking up the entitlements, with final allocations available in July 2027. This investment, alongside the hard work and dedication of early years educators, providers and local authorities, has ensured the successful expansion of Government-funded childcare, with the 30-hours roll-out saving working families an average of £7,500 a year.

The dedicated schools grant allocations are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2026-to-2027

[HCWS1197]