Pupil Equity Funding

Scotland’s schools are in line to receive a share of over £120 million next year to help close the poverty-related attainment gap, Deputy First Minister John Swinney has announced.

Pupil Equity Funding is being allocated to 2,387 schools from the Scottish Government’s £750 million Attainment Scotland Fund in 2018/19.

The money will be spent at the discretion of teachers and school leaders on localised initiatives to close the poverty related attainment gap.

Mr Swinney announced the funding on a visit to St Francis RC Primary School in Dundee, who have been using part of their funding in 2017/18 to provide a six-week summer school focused on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing for their pupils living in the most deprived areas.

Mr Swinney said:

“Every child should have the best possible start in life, no matter their background. Schools have a significant role to play in ensuring every child is given the right support to help them achieve their full potential.

“Our priority is to close the poverty-related attainment gap. This £120 million of Pupil Equity Funding is aimed at doing just that.

“The funding is targeted towards schools who have the highest numbers of pupils receiving free school meals, so that the money is spent on the children who need it most.

“Last year’s allocation is already making a big impact. I have visited a number of schools up and down the country where this funding has empowered teachers to put in place creative new initiatives that are tackling the attainment gap in their schools right now.

“I hope this second round of funding will help schools to build on that progress, supported by our reforms to education that will raise standards for all and put excellence and equity at the heart of Scottish education.”

Neil Lowden, the Headteacher of St Francis RC Primary School, said:

"I believe the introduction of the Pupil Equity Funding has had a significant impact on how I have managed my school in terms of the absolute focus on raising attainment in literacy and numeracy as well as improving outcomes in health and wellbeing for the children in St Francis. 

“There is no doubt that having this extra resource has allowed me to further develop the work of the Scottish Attainment Challenge to provide high quality targeted interventions to close the attainment gap. 

“As a Headteacher the Pupil Equity Funding has fundamentally allowed our school community to make a real and significant difference to the lives of the children who come through our doors every day. I am delighted to see a further commitment being made by the Scottish Government and I very much welcome Mr Swinney's announcement.”

Background

The £120 million Pupil Equity Funding forms part of the Scottish Government’s Draft Budget for 2018/19.

The £120 million Pupil Equity Funding forms part of the £179 million Attainment Scotland Fund for 2018-19, underlining the Scottish Government’s commitment to allocate £750 million during the course of this Parliament to tackle the poverty related attainment gap.

Allocations are based on the number of pupils from P1 to S3 who are eligible and registered for free school meals.

The funding broken down by local authority is as follows:

	Number of schools receiving PEF	Allocations
Aberdeen City	61	£2,845,080
Aberdeenshire	159	£2,906,520
Angus	57	£2,118,240
Argyll & Bute	75	£1,401,600
Clackmannanshire	22	£1,575,120
Dumfries & Galloway	110	£2,972,520
Dundee City	43	£4,980,840
East Ayrshire	57	£3,465,000
East Dunbartonshire	44	£1,588,440
East Lothian	40	£1,565,160
East Renfrewshire	31	£1,412,040
Edinburgh City	122	£7,452,120
Eilean Siar	23	£290,880
Falkirk	61	£3,577,320
Fife	157	£10,101,480
Glasgow City	191	£21,785,160
Highland	183	£4,095,000
Inverclyde	28	£2,436,120
Midlothian	39	£2,273,160
Moray	52	£1,341,960
North Ayrshire	60	£4,413,960
North Lanarkshire	156	£8,834,880
Orkney Islands	18	£232,200
Perth & Kinross	74	£1,661,520
Renfrewshire	62	£4,272,240
Scottish Borders	68	£1,841,280
Shetland Islands	20	£233,880
South Ayrshire	50	£2,413,200
South Lanarkshire	148	£7,988,400
Stirling	45	£1,483,440
West Dunbartonshire	41	£3,425,880
West Lothian	82	£5,160,840
Sum of local authorities	2379	£122,145,480
Grant-Maintained	8	£112,800
Total	2387	£122,258,280

 

View details of funding to individual schools: Pupil Equity Funding: school allocations 2018 to 2019