The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2023

Low prior attainment factor

18.—(1) In determining budget shares for primary and secondary schools (other than special schools, pupil referral units, and nursery schools), a local authority must ascertain and take into account in its formula the following factors.

(2) In respect of pupils at key stages 1 and 2, a single per pupil amount based on the total of—

(a) the number of pupils in Years 1, 4, 5, and 6 who did not achieve the expected development in relation to the relevant early learning goals in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile under the 2017 Document or the 2021 Document; and either

(b) where a school has pupils in Year 4, the number produced by multiplying together—

(i) the proportion of pupils in that year in the school who did not achieve that expected development; and

(ii) the total number of pupils in Years 2 and 3 in the school; or

(c) where a school has no pupils in Year 4, the number produced by multiplying together—

(i) either—

(aa) the proportion of pupils in Year 4 in all the maintained schools (other than special schools and pupil referral units) and Academy schools (other than special academies and alternative provision Academies) in the local authority’s area who did not achieve that expected development; or

(bb) the proportion of pupils in Year 3 in the school in the previous year, or, if there were no pupils in Year 3 in the school in the previous year, the proportion of pupils in Year 2 in the school in the year before the previous year, who did not achieve the expected development in that previous year, or, as the case may be, the year before that previous year; or

(cc) the proportion of pupils who did not achieve that expected development who were assessed under the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment in 2022; and

(ii) the total number of pupils in Years 2 and 3 in the school.

(3) In respect of pupils at key stages 3 and 4, a single per pupil amount based on the total of—

(a) the number produced by multiplying the total of the following number of pupils by 0.64—

(i) the number of pupils assessed under the 2018 ARA as achieving a scaled score of 99 or lower in the mathematics or English reading tests (or both) referred to in section 4 of the 2018 ARA; and

(ii) the number of pupils not falling within paragraph (i) who were given a teacher assessment standard of ‘working towards the expected standard’, or lower, in English writing, referred to in section 7 of the 2018 ARA; and

(b) the number produced by multiplying the total of the following number of pupils by 0.65—

(i) the number of pupils assessed under the 2019 ARA as achieving a scaled score of 99 or lower in the mathematics or English reading tests (or both) referred to in section 5 of the 2019 ARA; and

(ii) the number of pupils not falling within paragraph (i) who were given a teacher assessment standard of ‘working towards the expected standard’, or lower, in English writing, referred to in section 8 of the 2019 ARA; and either

(c) where a school has pupils in Year 10, the number produced by multiplying together the total of the following number of pupils by 0.65—

(i) the proportion of pupils in that year who fell within sub-paragraph (b)(i) or (ii); and

(ii) the total number of pupils in Years 8 and 9 in the school; or

(d) where a school has no pupils in Year 10, the number produced by multiplying together the total of the following number of pupils by 0.65—

(i) either—

(aa) the proportion of pupils to whom paragraph (3)(b) applies who were assessed under the 2019 ARA in the last year in which the school had pupils from that cohort; or

(bb) the proportion of pupils in that year in all the maintained schools (other than special schools and pupil referral units) and Academy schools (other than special academies and alternative provision Academies) in the local authority’s area who fell within sub-paragraph (b)(i) or (ii); or

(cc) the proportion of pupils to whom paragraph (3)(e) applies who were assessed under the 2022 ARA multiplied by 0.54 and then divided by 0.65; and

(ii) the total number of pupils in Years 8 and 9 in the school; and

(e) the number produced by multiplying the total of the following number of pupils by 0.54—

(i) the number of pupils assessed under the 2022 ARA as achieving a scaled score of 99 or lower in the mathematics or English reading tests (or both) referred to in section 5 of the 2022 ARA; and

(ii) the number of pupils not falling within paragraph (i) who were given a teacher assessment standard of “working towards the expected standard”, or lower, in English writing, referred to in section 8.3 of the 2022 ARA.