Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) the sparsity factor and (b) other elements of the national funding formula in supporting small rural schools.

The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. The schools national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factor. This recognises that some schools are necessarily small because they are remote and do not have the same opportunities to grow or make efficiency savings as other schools, and that such schools often play a significant role in the rural communities they serve.

Schools attract sparsity funding through the NFF if they are both small and remote. In this calculation, the size of the school is calculated on the basis of the average year group size in the school. To measure a school’s remoteness, the department uses data on the pupils for whom that school is their nearest ‘compatible’ school, in terms of, for example, the correct phase of education. We then look at how far each of those pupils lives from their second nearest compatible school. Further details on this calculation are published here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/674ed7f48b522bba9d991a75/Schools_block_NFF_technical_note.pdf.

Eligible primary schools will attract up to £57,400, and all other schools will attract up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in 2025/26.

All small schools have benefited from the increase to core factors in the NFF in 2025/26, including the NFF lump sum, which is set at £145,100. This provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to pupil-led factors. The lump sum is particularly beneficial to small schools more reliant on an element of funding that is not driven by pupil numbers.