The f40 group was launched more than 20 years ago with the aim of influencing significant change in the way government allocates funding to local authorities and schools. 

The group is made up of 42 local authorities who are among the lowest funded for education in England.

f40 urges Prime Minister to prioritise education and SEND in the Comprehensive Spending Review – October 2021

Dear Prime Minister,

As we await the Comprehensive Spending Review, we urge Government to provide significant extra funding to education, including special educational needs, and to publish the long-overdue SEND review to enable major reform to follow.

We believe that as we emerge from the pandemic, we need to look at how best we can bolster our education system to ensure young people reach their potential – despite disruption to their learning.

In years to come Government, and the country as a whole, will be judged on how well we supported our children and how we invested in our schools, so it’s vital that we act now to prevent irrevocable long-term damage to young people….

Read the full letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson

There are still too many discrepancies in the way funding is distributed, with some schools receiving far more per pupil than others. We believe the historical add-ons that some schools receive should be abolished. Additional funding should be given for deprivation and other additional needs and realistic area living costs, but base funding for every school should be the same.

While government has introduced the National Funding Formula and acknowledged the unfairness, levelling up is a slow process and the unfairness continues, with many areas, especially large rural communities and ‘shire’ local authorities still receiving inequitably less funding.

The Covid pandemic has shone a light on these disparities, as well as highlighting the plight of disadvantaged pupils. More funding should be given for all disadvantaged pupils – including those living in more rural areas, which are sometimes forgotten, as well as those in towns and cities.

For a number of years, education funding has not kept pace with inflation, while the demands on schools and teachers have grown rapidly. In real terms, school funding is at 2010 levels. The pandemic has placed even greater cost pressures on schools.

f40 is campaigning for increased funding for Early Years, Primary, Secondary, 16-19, and High Needs up to age 25, and major changes to the way the SEND system is managed and funded.

What are we asking for?

1. Changes to the National Funding Formula to make it fairer, more easily understood and transparent. We would like a minimum level of funding to meet basic educational need of all pupils, and the removal of historic inequalities and funding protections for Schools Block and High Needs Block. We do not wish to remove additional funding for deprivation, additional needs or realistic living costs.
2. At least £5.5b additional school funding (above full inflation increases) in 2022/23, for Early Years, Primary, Secondary, 16-19, and High Needs up to age 25. A further £5.4bn is needed from 2023 to 2025 to ensure every child is taught by a qualified teacher in classes of no more than 30. These figures were estimated in 2019 and are currently under review. f40 is refreshing its funding model in 2021 to ensure our figures take account of the latest data and cost pressures in education.
3. A guaranteed rolling, three-year funding programme to enable education providers to budget ahead.
4. Schools recompensed for Covid expenses relating to additional teacher costs, a reduction in nursery attendance, heating and cleaning, PPE, and extra learning and catering resources, with 75% of lost income met.

• Download f40-funding for schools as a pdf – February 2021
• Download f40-funding for schools as a pdf – February 2020