10 March 2000
Following a survey of 178 inner-city schools, Ofsted has called for a full analysis of schools' income to help it draw up a 'disadvantage index' to top up funding for pupils in poor areas.
'That the demands (of disadvantaged areas) are difficult to quantify is no reason to duck the issue,' the survey, launched on March 8, states.
Ofsted has been a vocal critic of the schools' funding system for several years, but the 'steps' it outlines for reform break new ground for the watchdog. In an apparent expansion of its inspection role, the office said it intended to contribute to an analysis of the income schools receive and the costs of meeting educational disadvantage in schools. It would use the analysis to produce a 'needs-based' funding formula that would allocate extra funding directly to individual schools.
A source at Ofsted told Public Finance that the inspectorate had already begun discussions with the Department for Education and Employment on an analysis, but was unsure whether ministers would or could approve a 'disadvantage index'.
But a full analysis of the income of schools could alone provide a persuasive case for reform, which the government has so far been politically unable to sanction.
Estelle Morris, schools standards minister, claimed the department had tried to reform the system last year but had been greeted with a flood of complaints from MPs who did not want to lose any funding.
The survey also criticised the number and range of the government's education initiatives, stating that schools were over-reliant on bidding for short-term schemes. From September it will begin inspecting these schemes, which include education action zones and Excellence in Cities, to measure their impact and value for money.
'We don't want the education landscape to be littered with good intentions and no real response,' Morris said. 'I think in the next few years we will take the best of the initiatives we are currently launching.'
PFmar2000
