School funding consultation 2026-27

On Tuesday 16 September, we published a consultation document on school funding for 2026-27 (pdf)

The deadline for completion of responses on the school funding consultation 2026-27 survey is Friday 24 October.

Why we need to consult

The local authority are required to consult annually with all maintained schools and academies in their area about how the money allocated by the government is shared out locally, including through the local schools funding formula. The consultation responses will inform schools forum and local authority decision making.

There will be a separate consultation on the early years funding formula and centrally retained funding later in the term.

The areas where we would welcome the views of schools on are:

• The value of the mainstream school minimum funding guarantee (MFG).
• How much additional funding schools receive through the growth fund for offering additional places in response to basic need.
• The value of the funding held back to fund services delivered centrally for maintained schools.
• De-delegation (pooling) of funding from maintained schools for a small range of services run by the LA.
• Funding for the LA’s key duties and historic commitments in relation to maintained schools and academies.
• Maintaining the existing 0.5% transfer from the schools block to the high needs block
• The principles underpinning elements of the proposed new mainstream high needs funding model
• Potential changes to the balance control mechanism to further promote the effective and planned use of school balances.

Consultation information meetings

We are holding two consultation information meetings via MS Teams.

• Wednesday 8 October 2025 from 11am -12pm
• Thursday 9 October 2025 from 4 - 5pm

At these meetings, we will summarise the proposals and provide an opportunity for governors and school leaders to ask questions and / or seek clarification on the proposals in the document. To attend, please contact Kim Price (details below).

Decision making timetable

As in previous years, all mainstream schools and academies are funded on the basis of the LAs local funding formula.

We will report the results of the consultation to the schools forum at its meetings in November and January where the forum will make decisions affecting school funding for 2026-27.

DfE usually publish final DSG allocations just before term ends in December and we intend to publish draft school level allocations in January and final allocations in February after the DfE have carried out their checks.

We look forward to receiving your responses. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to email Kim Price (details below).