The Cornwall Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the funding formula for pupil growth and the overall schools funding formula for the 2026/27 academic year. The meeting agenda also included a report on the implications of reduced budgets for pupil growth and falling rolls.

Pupil Growth Formula 2026/27

The forum was scheduled to consider a report detailing the approach to managing a significantly reduced budget for funding pupil growth and falling rolls for the upcoming academic year. This reduction in funding is attributed to commitments made by the Local Authority (LA) to fund new and expanding schools. The report outlined two potential options for addressing this shortfall:

• Option A: Reduce the number of schools eligible for growth funding, while ensuring those that do receive it get a substantial amount.
• Option B: Reduce the amount each qualifying school receives, ensuring all eligible schools still receive some funding.

The report indicated a preference for Option B, which would involve reducing per-pupil funding rates or introducing a multiplier to decrease final awards by a fixed percentage. This approach would be easier to implement and ensure all schools entitled to exceptional growth funding would still receive it, albeit at a lower level than in previous years. The report noted that this option might be seen as a disservice to schools that have experienced consistent growth over the last five years, as funding they may have factored into their budgets would be reduced.

The report also discussed the possibility of adjusting the methodology by increasing the thresholds for exceptional growth payments. Currently, primary schools must cover the first 5% of increased pupil numbers, and secondary schools the first 30 additional pupils. Increasing these thresholds would reduce exceptional growth payments. For example, changing the primary threshold from 5% to 10% would significantly decrease expected exceptional growth funding. The report argued that these thresholds are arbitrary and can be changed, but acknowledged that schools may have planned based on existing levels.

Schools Funding Formula 2026/27

The forum was scheduled to consider proposals for the 2026/27 schools funding formula, which determines individual school budget allocations. This process is a statutory duty for local authorities, requiring consultation with schools and the Schools Forum to ensure compliance with the Department for Education's (DfE) National Funding Formula (NFF).

Key elements of the proposed formula for discussion included:

• Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG): A recommendation was made to set the MFG at 0%, which protects the per-pupil funding rate compared to the previous year.
• Capping and Scaling: Several options were presented for capping school budgets to ensure the total cost of school budgets does not exceed the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). These options involved a reduction in the basic entitlement factor, combined with different capping and scaling percentages. The preferred option, based on feedback from a working group and consultation responses, was a 0.25% reduction to the basic entitlement factor, with gains per pupil capped at 1.10% and scaled by 81.75%. This approach aims to balance the transition of capped schools towards the NFF with the impact on schools already funded at NFF levels.
• National Funding Formula (NFF) Factor Values: The proposal was to continue mirroring the NFF factor values, subject to any changes agreed upon regarding capping.
• De-delegation for Maintained Schools: The forum was asked to vote on continuing to de-delegate funds for several services for maintained schools. These included:
  • A fund for Staff Costs/Supply Cover for Maternity Leave.
  • A fund for Trade Union Representation.
  • A fund for Schools in Financial Difficulty.
  • A fund for Free School Meals Eligibility assessments.
  • A fund to assist in covering in-year School Based Redundancy costs.
• Central School Services Budgets: Responsibility for reviewing these budgets was proposed to be delegated to the Service Director for Education and Community Health, with final budgets to be presented to the forum later.
• High Needs: The report highlighted significant pressure within the high needs sector nationally due to increasing demand for Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs), leading to substantial deficits for local authorities. Cornwall's deficit was noted as particularly high due to consistently low funding. The report mentioned that the government intends to centrally fund all SEND costs from 2028-29 and will provide further details on support for historic and ongoing deficits.
• Early Years: The forum was to consider the continued retention of funds from the early years block of DSG to support the running of the early years funding team. The formula for 3 and 4-year-olds was expected to remain in its current format.

The report also detailed the financial implications of the proposed changes, including the impact of capping on schools in the 2025/26 financial year and the projected impact of the proposed capping and scaling options for 2026/27. It was noted that the DfE has confirmed that the School Budget Support Grant (SBSG) and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) grant will be incorporated into the NFF for 2026/27.