SCHOOLS across Barnsley will get more money for their pupils from the government this academic year - but education bosses have warned inflation may make some schools worse off.
Department for Education figures show Barnsley schools will have an average budget of £5,505 per pupil in the new 2023/24 academic year - an increase of 5.5 per cent from £5,216 the previous year.
However, inflation stood at 6.3 per cent in the 12 month to August, prompting the Association of School and College Leaders (ACSL) to express concerns.
They said the ‘financial situation will continue to be extremely challenging’.
Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the ASCL, said: “While school funding will increase by around 6.8 per cent in 2023/24, this is against a background of very high inflation - which peaked at 11.1 per cent last October on the Consumer Price Index measure - and cuts to real-term per-pupil funding of nine per cent between 2010 and 2019.”
Budgets varied widely across England, with schools in inner London having the most money allocated per child - £6,559, while those in Yorkshire and The Humber will only have an average budget of £5,263.
In Barnsley, schools will have a total budget of £251m.
Of this, £1.1m is allocated to special education needs support, which includes services for visual, hearing and physical impairment, specific learning difficulties such as speech, language and communication, as well as severe learning difficulties and autism.
Another £7m will go towards funding for high needs places, which enables those who due to exclusion, illness, or other reasons, cannot receive their education in mainstream schools, to fully participate in education and learning.
The planned expenditure on SEND services for schools in England has increased by 5.9 per cent to £588m this academic year.
Joe Hallgarten, CEO of the Centre for Education and Youth, said: “While many regional disparities in school spending need exploring and addressing, it is more urgent to ensure that those schools whose pupils face multiple disadvantages including poverty are provided with greater resources to recruit the best teachers and offer other support for their young people.
“Although local authority spending on SEND and inclusion is rising, resources are simply not keeping up with the growth in need and demand.
“Our whole system for supporting pupils with SEND and those who are at risk of exclusion needs serious, short and long-term reform.”
The government said that school funding across England will be at its highest level in history next year, reaching over £59.6bn.
