Headteachers resigned to Shropshire funding gap

Shropshire's headteachers say they are 'resigned' to receiving far less funding for their pupils than schools in other parts of the country, but will continue to press the Government for a better deal.

Phil Poulter, chairman of the Shropshire Headteachers' Association, which represents secondary schools, was speaking after Education Secretary Michael Gove promised last week to look again at the system, but failed to offer any money immediately.

Instead the Government said it will look again at the funding formula in its next spending review, which will follow the 2015 General Election.

Ministers have publicly admitted that Shropshire pupils get a bad deal compared to other parts of the country, partly because the current system does not consider the extra cost of delivering education in a rural area.

Mr Poulter, headteacher of the Ludlow Church of England School Specialist Technology and Sports College, said in 2011 the average sized county school received £600 per pupil less in funding than the national average.

Each pupil in Shropshire gets just £4,611 a year from the Government for their education – while those in the City of London receive a massive £9,372.

"We're nowhere near the national average, let alone some areas which are massively better funded than we are," he said.

Mr Poulter said the county's MPs had been supportive of their case, but it was now a question of waiting.

"We're resigned to the fact that until there's a wider ranging settlement the big financial increases are unlikely to come to Shropshire," he said.

Meanwhile, a group campaigning for fairer school funding on behalf of the country's lowest funded local authorities, including Shropshire, met Mr Gove on Wednesday.

They said the meeting had been positive. with hopes for improvement.