Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the annual cost of educating a non-English speaking child in secondary schools.

Schools have autonomy over how they use their budgets, as they are best placed to assess the needs of their pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL), as well as the type of support they need.

Pupils with EAL, and who have started in the state-funded school system in England within the last three years, attract additional funding to their school through the EAL factor in the schools National Funding Formula (NFF). In the 2024/25 financial year, 1.1% (£484 million) of the total funding in the NFF will be allocated through the EAL factor (for both primary and secondary pupils). For secondary school pupils specifically, total EAL funding for 2024/25 is £141 million, with the EAL factor set at £1,585 per eligible secondary pupil.