London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Schools in poorest areas of England to be worst hit by pupil premium change

Schools in poorest areas of England to be worst hit by pupil premium change

Government’s shift on date will leave 60,000 fewer children eligible for extra funds
Schools in the poorest parts of England are set to be hit hardest by a controversial change in how the government allocates pupil premium funding, the Observer can reveal.

Normally, the government gives the funding to each school in England based on the number of children eligible for free school meals (FSM) in January of the previous school year.

But this year’s funding will be based on the number of FSM children at each school in October 2020 rather than January 2021 – meaning schools will miss out on pupil premium funding for FSM children who enrolled between those months.

Data sourced under the Freedom of Information Act by the Observershows the financial impact will be biggest in the poorest areas. Schools in the most deprived 10% of areas in England each enrolled an average of seven extra FSM pupils between October 2020 and January 2021, compared with 2.6 extra FSM pupils at each school in the least deprived locations.

The Observer’s figures cover 17,048 schools in 117 local authorities – nearly 80% of all the local authorities in England.

Most councils have not yet calculated the financial impact of the change in date on each school. But Haringey, in London, estimated a total loss of £691,110 in pupil premium funding due to the change in date, with one school in a particularly deprived part of the borough set to miss out on £44,385. This year Schools Week website estimated the total funding loss for schools in England to be around £125m.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of teachers’ trade union the National Education Union, said: “The shift in census date means a great many disadvantaged pupils have lost out because of the increase in FSM provision. Schools will struggle even more with their finances but the government is refusing to compensate them.”

Jon Andrews, head of analysis at the Education Policy Institute, said: “Schools and pupils are missing out not only on the pupil premium itself, but on other elements such as pandemic recovery funding that are linked to it.

“We know from the government’s own figures that at a national level around 60,000 fewer pupils are eligible for the pupil premium as a result of the date change.

“But this overall change of around 60,000 only tells us part of the story, as there will have been winners and losers from the date change.

“We need to see far greater transparency – the government must publish its figures in full, so that we can understand the full extent of funding losses over this most recent period.”A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Pupil premium funding has risen for the majority of schools, to more than £2.5bn overall this year – an increase of £60m compared to last year. Combined with our ambitious education recovery plan, this will ensure disadvantaged children are supported with their attainment.“Using the October census for pupil premium allocations means schools will now know their full budget earlier in the year, helping them to plan ahead.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×