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Summary
The Hammersmith and Fulham Schools Forum is scheduled to meet on 16 December 2025 to discuss the provisional Schools Block allocation of the Dedicated Schools Grant1 for the 2026/27 financial year. The forum will also be asked to agree on the principles to be used for modelling the Schools Block budget, which will ultimately determine the final budget allocation for the coming financial year.
Schools Block Mainstream Budget 2026/27
The Schools Forum is expected to discuss the provisional Schools Block allocation of the Dedicated Schools Grant for 2026/27. According to the report pack, the provisional allocation from the Department for Education (DfE) is £128.476m. This figure is based on October 2024 census numbers and does not include additional funding for growth and falling rolls. The council anticipates receiving the final allocation, based on October 2025 census numbers and inclusive of growth and falling rolls funding, by 19 December 2025.
The report pack states that in 2025/26, mainstream schools received funding through the National Insurance Contributions Grant and the Schools Budget Support Grant in addition to their DSG allocation through the Schools Block. From 2026/27, this funding will be allocated through the Schools Block, with the DfE making a baseline adjustment of £3.140m to ensure schools are not disadvantaged. This adjustment has been allocated through the basic per pupil funding factor, Free School Meals Ever 6 factor, and the lump sum factor.
The following table details the change in the provisional allocation for 2026/27 compared with the final 2025/26 Schools Block allocation, adjusted for the separate grants:
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of pupils (R to Y11) | 15,625 | 15,625 | |
| Movement | |||
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 | between | |
| £m | £m | years | |
| Schools Block Baseline | |||
| (excludes growth funding) | 121.859 | 127.045 | |
| Additional Grants: | |||
| NICS | 1.945 | ||
| SBSG | 1.195 | ||
| Premises Factor | 1.425 | 1.431 | |
| Sub-total before growth and | |||
| falling rolls funding | 126.424 | 128.475 | 2.051 |
| Per pupil funding before | |||
| growth and falling rolls | 8,091 | 8,223 | 1.62% |
| Growth funding | 0.228 | TBC | |
| Falling rolls funding | 0.840 | TBC | |
| Total Schools Block | |||
| Funding (including Growth | |||
| and Falling rolls) | 127.492 | TBC | |
The report pack notes that per pupil funding has provisionally increased by 1.62% for Hammersmith and Fulham mainstream schools, compared to a 2.48% increase nationally. The unit of funding allocated through the national funding formula has increased by 5.3% for the Primary phase and 3.3% for the Secondary phase from 2025/26 to 2026/27.
There are no structural changes to the Schools National Funding Formula (NFF) from 2025 to 2026. The basic per pupil rate, free school meals Ever 6 values and the lump sum factor have increased to reflect the 'rolling in' of the separate SBSG and NICs grant from 2025 to 2026, and a further overall increase has been applied to school and pupil-led factors. Every primary school will attract at least £5,115 per pupil and every secondary school at least £6,640 per pupil through the minimum per pupil funding levels.
As in 2025 to 2026, local authorities can only use NFF factors in their local formulae and must use all NFF factors except any locally determined premises factors. Local authorities will continue to set a minimum funding guarantee in local formulae, which must be between minus 0.5% and 0% for 2026 to 2027.
The modelling for the 2026/27 school budget will be made once the Department for Education (DfE) issues the updated Authority Proforma Tool (APT) by 19 December 2025, consistent with the principles agreed by Schools Forum in November 2025 and in line with requirements of the Schools Block NFF for 2026/27.
The principles for producing the Schools Block model assumes continuing support to the High Needs Block through a 1% transfer from the Schools Block, which is expected to be around £1.28m. The report pack notes that a disapplication of above 0.5% level requires Schools Forum approval and a disapplication to the Minister of State, which was approved by Schools Forum in November 2025, but the outcome of the request is not expected until January 2026. The continued disapplication is required for the short to medium term sustainability of the High Needs Block.
The modelling will also need to be produced on the assumption of a 0.5% transfer from the Schools Block to support the High Needs Block, which is a requirement of the DfE pending a decision on the disapplication submission. Therefore, two models will be produced. The modelling will also provide the budget for de-delegated budgets and the Education functions fund, which is applicable for maintained primary schools only.
A consultation will open for a short period and will be based on the budget modelling principles agreed by Schools Forum, and a workshop will be held prior to the January 2026 Schools Forum.
Minutes of the Last Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting on 11 November 2025 are included in the report pack.
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The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is the primary source of funding for schools and local authorities' education-related services in England. It is allocated by the central government and distributed to local authorities, who then allocate funding to individual schools and other educational providers. ↩
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