The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2021

New schools, merged schools and closing schools

27.—(1) Where in the funding period, but excluding 1st April 2021, a new maintained school opens, and is a replacement for two or more maintained schools that are discontinued during the funding period, a local authority must calculate the budget share of the new school by adding together the budget shares of the schools that have been discontinued.

(2) Except where paragraph (1) applies, a local authority must determine a budget share for—

(a) any new maintained school in its area, and

(b) any school that has opened since 1st April 2014 and does not yet have pupils in each year group for which the school proposes to provide education,

from the date of the school’s opening on the basis of expected pupil numbers during the funding period estimated by the authority, and regulation 13 does not apply.

(3) Where a school to which paragraph (2) applies was funded on the basis of estimated pupil numbers in the previous funding period, the local authority may take account of any difference between estimated and actual pupil numbers in the previous funding period when estimating pupil numbers for the funding period.

(4) Where in the previous funding period or on 1st April 2021 a new maintained school opened or opens and is a replacement for two or more maintained schools that were discontinued during the previous funding period or on 1st April 2021, a local authority must include in the budget share of the new school an amount equal to 85% of the total amount which the schools that it replaced would have been allocated in their budget shares under paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 3 (single sums) if the schools had not been discontinued.

(5) Where paragraph (4) applies, no single sum is to be included in the new school’s budget share under paragraph 1 or 2 of Schedule 3.

(6) A local authority must determine a budget share for any maintained school in its area which is to be discontinued in the funding period up to the date when the school is discontinued in accordance with this Part.

(7) Where in the funding period, but excluding 1st April 2021, a maintained school is subject to a prescribed alteration as a result of a closure of a school, a local authority must redetermine the budget share of the enlarged school by adding to it the budget share of the school that has been discontinued.

(8) Where in the previous funding period or on 1st April 2021 a maintained school is subject to a prescribed alteration as a result of a closure of a school during the previous funding period or on 1st April 2021, a local authority must include in the budget share of the enlarged school an amount equal to 85% of the total amount which the schools whose provision it has replaced would have been allocated in their budget shares under paragraph 1 and 2 of Schedule 3 if the school had not been discontinued.

(9) Where in the funding period, but excluding 1st April 2021, a school has been established or is subject to a prescribed alteration as a result of the closure of a school, a local authority may add an amount to the budget share of the new or enlarged school to reflect all or part of the unspent budget share (including any surplus carried over from previous funding periods) of the closing school for the funding period in which it closes.

(10) A local authority may change the operation of this regulation where authorised to do so by the Secretary of State under regulation 31 (alternative arrangements).