A funding crisis for Bucks Grammar (and Upper) Schools?
Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2014 1:36 am
DCHS (in line with other academy schools) is required to publish an annual report. They have just done so for FY1314.
http://www.dchs.bucks.sch.uk/_files/CF7 ... 8B40D5.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There is an interesting paragraph in page 9 under the section Key Financial Performance Indicators
"In common with all education establishments, the school is operating under severe financial constraints.
Furthermore schools in Buckinghamshire are amongst the worst funded in the country and the Local Authority
in Buckinghamshire has chosen to fund its secondary schools using a formula that is amongst the most
detrimental to secondary schools in the country in comparison with its funding of primary schools.
In particular, according to information in the Pre-16 Academy Allocations 2013/14 produced by the Education
Funding Agency, at Key Stages 3&4 (years 7-11 comprising around 750 students) the school is funded at a
level of £4,294 per student. This compares with an average nationally of £5,588 and a similar school less than
10 miles away but in a different county of £4,798. Were this school to be funded at the national average income
would be £970K higher, if it were funded at the same level as the nearby school income would be £378K
higher."
Funding is 30% lower than the national average !!
I also understand that of the 1,600 or so Academies in the UK, DCHS is the 10th worst funded, and also that the bottom 10 contains several other Bucks GS (and an upper school) .
The system just strikes me as both arbitrary (all other things being equal why should schools in different counties have different funding levels?) and deeply unfair.
I do get that, at the margin, resources should be directed towards schools with a pupil cohort that needs more support than the bright, largely economically advantaged children who attend Bucks GS, but the magnitude of the funding difference between DCHS (and presumably other Bucks GS) and the average (let alone the best funded schools) I find simply astonishing. 30% less per student!
I think this situation partially explains the recent dash by many schools for more students (BHS with their bulge year, DCGS with their sixth from expansion and now DCHS with their just announced 2015 yr 7 bulge year and admission of more yr 10 girls) ... they need the revenue. But of course this is a zero sum game and every extra student taken in means one less student somewhere else.
How will our schools maintain the excellence they strive for and very largely achieve over the next five years when they are being hammered so hard? I don't understand why this isn't a matter of huge public debate & concern. Unmanaged, I suspect it is only going to get worse over the next few years whoever wins the election.
As parents I think we should be trying to generate political attention on this issue both to understand what BCC are up to and, more generally, to address the national funding formula.
http://www.dchs.bucks.sch.uk/_files/CF7 ... 8B40D5.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There is an interesting paragraph in page 9 under the section Key Financial Performance Indicators
"In common with all education establishments, the school is operating under severe financial constraints.
Furthermore schools in Buckinghamshire are amongst the worst funded in the country and the Local Authority
in Buckinghamshire has chosen to fund its secondary schools using a formula that is amongst the most
detrimental to secondary schools in the country in comparison with its funding of primary schools.
In particular, according to information in the Pre-16 Academy Allocations 2013/14 produced by the Education
Funding Agency, at Key Stages 3&4 (years 7-11 comprising around 750 students) the school is funded at a
level of £4,294 per student. This compares with an average nationally of £5,588 and a similar school less than
10 miles away but in a different county of £4,798. Were this school to be funded at the national average income
would be £970K higher, if it were funded at the same level as the nearby school income would be £378K
higher."
Funding is 30% lower than the national average !!
I also understand that of the 1,600 or so Academies in the UK, DCHS is the 10th worst funded, and also that the bottom 10 contains several other Bucks GS (and an upper school) .
The system just strikes me as both arbitrary (all other things being equal why should schools in different counties have different funding levels?) and deeply unfair.
I do get that, at the margin, resources should be directed towards schools with a pupil cohort that needs more support than the bright, largely economically advantaged children who attend Bucks GS, but the magnitude of the funding difference between DCHS (and presumably other Bucks GS) and the average (let alone the best funded schools) I find simply astonishing. 30% less per student!
I think this situation partially explains the recent dash by many schools for more students (BHS with their bulge year, DCGS with their sixth from expansion and now DCHS with their just announced 2015 yr 7 bulge year and admission of more yr 10 girls) ... they need the revenue. But of course this is a zero sum game and every extra student taken in means one less student somewhere else.
How will our schools maintain the excellence they strive for and very largely achieve over the next five years when they are being hammered so hard? I don't understand why this isn't a matter of huge public debate & concern. Unmanaged, I suspect it is only going to get worse over the next few years whoever wins the election.
As parents I think we should be trying to generate political attention on this issue both to understand what BCC are up to and, more generally, to address the national funding formula.