Today's Education in the Media blog looks at the funding that we provide to grammar schools, as well as an article from Minister Nick Gibb about LGBT equality and support for schools and teachers.
Grammar schools funding
Yesterday, Sunday, 8 July, the Sunday Times published an article about grammar schools claiming that they are struggling with funding. This was also reported by the Daily Mail today
School funding is at record levels, with an additional £1.3bn being invested across 2018-19 and 2019-20, including in grammar schools. We have also introduced the National Funding Formula, which provides for gains for all schools.
We have protected the base rate of funding at all provider types for post 16 education and training and overall the government plans to invest around £7 billion during 2017/18 (including apprenticeships), to ensure there is a place in education or training for every 16 to 19-year old who wants one.
A Department for Education spokesperson:
School funding is at record levels, with an additional £1.3bn being invested across 2018-19 and 2019-20, including in grammar schools. We have ensured that funding follows pupils, and we are protecting funding per pupil in real terms. Independent analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that real terms per pupil funding in 2020 will be more than 50% higher than it was in 2000.
This means that funding for the average primary school class is now £132,000, and for the same children in secondary schools it is £171,000.
We are creating more than 1 million school places this decade and continue to support good schools to expand, including through the Selective School Expansion Fund, worth £50m in 2018-19 alone.
Pride
On Saturday, 7 July, the annual Pride in London parade took place in the capital, celebrating LGBT+ identities, history and achievements.
To celebrate this, and the publication of the Government’s LGBT Action Plan on 3 July, Minister Nick Gibb wrote a piece for the TES about LGBT+ acceptance in schools and the support available to LGBT teachers to make sure they feel comfortable and supported opening up about their sexual status or gender.
The Minister writes about the great tolerance and support that young people have for LGBT people, as well as the challenges still facing the teaching profession in making sure LGBT teachers feel supported and able to be open about their sexuality. As part of this work, the Department for Education has invested £2 million to establish regional hubs to support teachers from underrepresented groups, including those teachers who are LGBT, to progress into leadership. Read the Minister’s full article online here.
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