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Boost fund for schools goes to rich
Government’s own watchdog slams Education cuts in deprived areas
Government efforts to "level up" funding for education have resulted in cuts to the money going to the most deprived schools, the Whitehall spending watchdog has found

GOVERNMENT boasts of “levelling up” in education funding were exposed as a sham yesterday, as an official report revealed cuts have been inflicted on some of Britain’s most deprived schools.

A Tory funding formula introduced in 2018 has actually caused a “relative redistribution” of resources to schools in better-off areas, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) report, formally released today.

Its research shows that average per-pupil funding for the most-deprived fifth of schools has fallen in real terms since 2017-18 by 1.2 per cent to £5,177, while for the least deprived fifth it has risen by 2.9 per cent to £4,471.

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