Commenting as the government admit that they have miscalculated the National Funding Formula (NFF) for 2024 to 2025, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Today’s announcement that the DfE has incorrectly calculated the national funding formula for 2024-25 speaks volumes about the chaos at the heart of government. School leaders will be rightly angry that basic accounting errors may force them to rethink already tight budgets as a result of the erroneous figures they were provided. Many may now have to revisit crucial decisions around staffing or support for pupils as budgets are reduced.

“Rushed announcements about half-baked policy initiatives, such as mobile phone bans or overhauling 16-18 education without any consultation with the sector, are worrying enough, but how can school leaders have confidence in headline grabbing policy developments if they can’t even trust their budget allocations.”