Change measurement of school funding amid falling pupil numbers – ex-minister

Figures from the Department for Education showed there were 611,000 unfilled primary school places for 2023-24, nearly a 6% rise on the year before (Danny Lawson/PA) - (PA Archive)

School funding should no longer be judged on a per-pupil basis because of falling birth rates and pupil numbers, a former education secretary has said.

Conservative MP Damian Hinds said the decline in the number of children in primary and secondary schools meant funding being measured on a per-pupil basis was no longer a good reflection of whether funding is increasing or decreasing.