Cautious welcome for fairer funding news but Worcester headteacher, Neil Morris, says schools still need more

Education Secretary Justine Greening announced that a national funding formula will be introduced from 2018/19 on Monday.

She also said an extra £1.3 billion over two years will be given to schools, funded by "efficiencies and savings" in the Department for Education's budget.

The money will be provided over 2018/19 and 2019/20 in a bid to ensure funding per pupil is "maintained in real terms".

She said: "I'm confirming our plans to get on with introducing a national funding formula in 2018/19, and I can announce that this will additionally now be supported by significant extra investment into the core schools budget."

The news is significant for Worcestershire because its schools have been campaigning for 'fairer funding' for two decades.

Outdated rules mean the county's schools receive less money per pupil than similar schools elsewhere.

Politicians agree this is unfair but have so far failed to resolve the situation.

Neil Morris, head at Christopher Whitehead Language College, in Bromwich Road, Worcester, said: "I think the devil is in the detail here.

"This is something that I've been trying to get since 2003. We've been tantalisingly close - every year it's a carrot that's dangled."

Mr Morris said the new formula would give him an extra £800 per pupil, taking funding from £4,000 per pupil to £4,800 by 2020.

But he asked which other grants might go, saying his school has already lost £100,000 in two years from the Education Services Grant.

He said: "They give on the one hand and take away with the other.

"I've lived through 27 years of inadequate funding. We are down to the absolute brass tacks now and have some unpalatable decisions to come.

"We are desperate for money. I've got less than I did seven years ago but I've got 200 more kids and more staff.

"It's a case of asking where do I spend this money I'll get because I've got deficits everywhere. I'm sticking plasters on holes."