Education: Rural Areas

(asked on 20th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on small, rural schools of ineligibility for sparsity funding in the national funding formula.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 30th November 2020

The Department recognises the financial challenges that small schools in rural areas can face, and frequently assesses evidence on this. We have increased the amount distributed through the national funding formula’s sparsity factor for the 2021/22 funding year, from £26 million to £42 million. This will help with the provision of extra support to small, remote schools.

The Department reviews the national funding formula on an ongoing basis, including the sparsity factor. We have made minimal changes to the design of the formula next year, in light of pressures caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. As such, the thresholds determining which schools attract sparsity funding will be unchanged in the 2021/22 funding year.

Increased funding through the sparsity factor next year is a first step toward wider changes in the 2022/23 funding year to further support small, remote schools. The Department plan to consult on exact changes, and the design of the factor in 2022/23, in the New Year.

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