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How schools are funded

Find out the basics of how your school is funded, including what additional streams of funding are available, so you're clear on what elements make up your school finances.

Last reviewed on 5 September 2024See updates
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Contents
  1. Core funding: mainstream schools
  2. Core funding: maintained special schools
  3. Extra funding for all school types
  4. Other streams of funding

As a governor, you don't need to understand the intricacies of how schools are funded or how funding formulas work. 

However, the board is responsible for financial oversight of the school. This overview will help you understand your school's financial position. 

Core funding: mainstream schools

Note: this section applies to mainstream schools only – if you're in a special school, your funding is allocated differently (see the section below).

Your funding is determined by the national funding formula (NFF)...

... But local authorities (LAs) allocate your school's core budget using a local funding formula

The process for this is:

Local funding formulas are decided in collaboration with your local schools forum. This is a regular meeting of representatives from