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Written question asked by Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 9 October 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 October 2026. It was answered by Georgia Gould (Labour) on Monday, 19 October 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Pupils: Finance

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the per pupil funding available to schools in Somerset relative to other counties across England.

Answer

The schools national funding formula (NFF) distributes core funding for 5–16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. The NFF allocates funding based on schools’ and pupils’ characteristics. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is allocated based on pupil numbers and characteristics.

The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding: schools with lots of pupils with additional needs, such as those indicated by measures of deprivation, low prior attainment, or English as an additional language, receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of all their pupils.

Through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Somerset local authority is receiving £6,569 per pupil on average in the 2026/27 financial year (including premises funding but excluding growth funding).

The government will continue to review the operation of the schools NFF for upcoming and future years.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
30634
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Finance Pupils Per capita costs Somerset
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk