Pupils: Per Capita Costs
(asked on 11th March 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the percentage increase or decrease in real terms per pupil funding for students in (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools in England in each year since 2010.
The total of schools funding and funding per pupil in cash terms from 2010-11 to 2018-19 are set out in following tables. Breaks in the funding system do not allow for like for like comparisons.
Table 1
Funding 2010-11 to 2012-13
Financial year | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
Funding for schools (£ million) | 36,506 | 37,169.90 | 38,037.70 |
Funding per pupil (£) | 5,143 | 5,169 | 5,245 |
For the financial year 2010-11, the figures includes the total Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) (schools block, early years block and the high needs block), and other schools related grants. From 2011-12 the total funding figures includes the DSG, the pupil premium and other schools related grants.
Table 2
Funding 2013-14 to 2018-19
Financial year | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
Funding for schools (£ million) | 40,861 | 42,466 | 43,965 | 44,413 | 45,742 | 46,332 |
High Needs Block (£ million) | 4,967 | 5,184 | 5,247 | 5,300 | 5,827 | 6,115 |
Schools Block (£ million) | 30,412 | 30,655 | 32,168 | 32,650 | 33,094 | 33,684 |
Schools block unit of funding (£) | 4,551 | 4,555 | 4,612 | 4,636 | 4,619 | n/a |
Schools block primary unit of funding (£) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4,058 |
Schools block secondary unit of funding (£) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 5,229 |
From 2013-14, per pupil funding figures are based on the DSG schools block only. Schools receive funding on top of this through the pupil premium, primary PE and sport premium, Year 7 Catch Up premium and the grant to support universal infant free school meals (from 2014-2015). In 2017-18, the balance between the schools and high needs block was re-set, with some £250 million being transferred from the schools block to the high needs block, to better reflect the actual spending decisions that local authorities had been taking. This accounts for the apparent reduction in the School Block Unit of Funding in that year. Before 2018-19, schools block funding was not allocated separately for primary and secondary phases.
The government publishes gross domestic product deflators that can be used to understand the impact of inflation over time. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp-october-2018-budget-2018.