Guidance

Schools block technical specification 2025 to 2026: for use in schools block allocations

Published 17 December 2024

Applies to England

1. Introduction

This document provides a full technical specification for the school-level data that has been made available to local authorities in the prepopulated ‘Schools Block Data’ worksheet of the authority proforma tool (APT), for use in allocating their 2025 to 2026 schools block funding for schools.

This note accompanies the separate guidance on how to complete the APT.

The schools block data contained in the December 2024 APT is based on the autumn 2024 school census returns, or other existing data collections. Table 1 below outlines what data will be provided and summarises the source data for each indicator.

The indicators and their descriptions were set out in the Schools operational guide: 2025 to 2026. This document now provides more explanation on the construction of the data.

Table 1: data included in the December 2024 APT

Data	Breakdown	Data source
School list	Local authority, LAEstab, unique reference number (URN), school name, phase	Mainstream schools on the autumn 2024 census The URN and school name are matched from Get Information about Schools (GIAS)
Academy type	Recoupment academy or 0 (0 is a maintained school)	Taken from the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) records – showing the status on the autumn 2024 census date
London fringe	1 or: Buckinghamshire: 1.0177; Essex: 1.0347; Kent: 1.0378; Hertfordshire: 1.0312; West Sussex: 1.0588	District as mapped from the school postcode in the autumn 2024 census Due to the reorganisation in Buckinghamshire, lower super output areas (LSOAs) are mapped to the school postcode to identify eligible schools
Year groups	Primary and secondary for middle schools Primary, secondary, key stage 3 and key stage 4 for all schools	Autumn 2024 census
Number on roll (NOR)	Primary, secondary, reception, years 1 to 6, key stage 3, key stage 4, year 7, year 8, year 9, year 10 and year 11	Autumn 2024 census
Reception difference	Zero or positive value	Number of reception pupils on roll in spring 2024 census less the number on roll in autumn 2023 If the difference is less than zero, then the reception uplift will be zero
Free school meals (FSM)	Separate primary/secondary	Autumn 2024 census
Free school meals ever 6 (FSM6)	Separate primary/secondary	Autumn 2024 census mapped to earlier census returns to identify any period of eligibility in the 6-year period
Income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI)	Split into 7 different bands (G to A, where A is the highest level of deprivation), separate primary/secondary Funding cannot be allocated to band G Separate primary/secondary	2019 IDACI data This is matched to the autumn 2024 census using pupil’s postcodes matched to LSOA
English as an additional language (EAL)	First to third year in system at any school in England Separate primary/secondary	Autumn 2024 census for language group, plus the autumn 2021, 2022 and 2023 census returns Mapping on unique pupil number (UPN) for on roll records
Primary phase low prior attainment	Year 1 to year 6 who did not achieve a good level of development	Early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) total score mapped to the autumn 2024 census Mapping on UPN only As there were no EYFSP tests in 2021 (year 4) and 2020 (year 5), year 4 will use year 3 data and year 5 will use the year 6 data Where these are not available, the value from the 2024 to 2025 APT will be used Where neither of these are available, the local authority averages for year 3 and year 6 will be used
Secondary phase low prior attainment	Year 7, year 8, year 9, year 10 and year 11 who did not achieve the expected level of attainment	Key stage 2 attainment data mapped to the autumn 2024 census Mapping on UPN only As there were no key stage tests in 2021 (year 10) and 2020 (year 11), year 10 will use year 9 data and, where this is not available, the value from the 2024 to 2025 APT Where this is not available the local authority average for year 9 will be used As there is no data in the schools block dataset (SBD) for pupils taking the tests in 2019 year 11 will use the value from the 2024 to 2025 APT Where this is not available, the local authority average from the 2024 to 2025 SBD for year 11 will be used
Mobility	Primary or secondary Pupil appears in census data at the same school as in the autumn 2024 census for the first time in a spring or summer census in 2022 or later For pupils in reception only, those first appearing at their current school in the summer census are classed as mobile	Autumn 2024 census mapped to earlier census returns
Sparsity	Primary, secondary	Autumn 2024 census, GIAS, Ordnance Survey, Office for National Statistics (ONS)

The autumn 2024 census date was 3 October 2024 and, therefore, the data reflects the status of schools at that date. All data for maintained schools will have been approved first by the local authority prior to being used by DfE.

We have calculated the pupil-level indicators for NOR and FSM eligibility from data collected in the autumn 2024 census. We have also linked this data, using the UPN collected in the autumn census, to data held in DfE’s National Pupil Database (NPD) to create the FSM6, EAL, mobility and prior attainment indicators. The IDACI indicators are based on the relationship between pupil postcode, local authority district and 2019 IDACI ranks. The government department formerly known as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government produced the IDACI data.

This data extract has been prepared prior to the autumn 2024 census being formally matched into the NPD.

The only changes made to the dataset for the 2025 to 2026 formula, compared to that used for the 2024 to 2025 formula, are:

• following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 primary school assessments, due to COVID-19, the low prior attainment (LPA) ratios for years 4, 5 and 10 for each school have been updated using the corresponding school’s ratio for pupils in years 3, 6, and 9 or, where that is not available, the ratio entered on the 2024 to 2025 APT. If neither of these are available, the local authority average for years 3, 6 or 9 will be used. For year 11, the ratio entered on the 2024 to 2025 APT is used. Where this is not available the local authority average for year 11 from the 2024 to 2025 SBD will be used.

More information about the school census can be found in the school census guidance. If you have any queries about this specification, please contact us at:

[email protected]

1.1 Using the data to allocate school budgets

For each of the pupil-led factors there are one or more allowable indicators. The pupil-led factors are:

• basic entitlement
• FSM
• FSM6
• IDACI
• EAL
• prior attainment
• mobility

For basic entitlement, the indicator used is the NOR for primary, key stage 3 and key stage 4. For the other indicators, schools attract funding through eligible pupil units. These pupil units are calculated as the appropriate NOR weighted by the proportion of pupils that meet the eligibility criteria.

The pupil units for primary FSM would be given by either:

• the primary NOR multiplied by the number of primary pupils eligible for FSM, divided by the number of primary pupils with a valid FSM response
• the supplied dataset primary NOR multiplied by the primary FSM proportion

All the indicator data (except NOR) is presented in the APT as a decimal proportion that should be applied to the NOR. This means that if you record a change to a school’s NOR figures in the ‘Inputs & Adjustments’ sheet of the APT (see the circumstances described on the next page in which adjustments to NOR figures can be made), then the proportion in the schools block dataset can still be multiplied by them to produce the appropriate pupil units.

The calculations of the proportions always exclude pupils with a ‘NULL’ value for the required response. This, plus the facility for you to alter the NOR, can result in pupil units for the indicators which are not whole numbers. Values in the schools block are shown to 2 decimal places, but this is presentational only, and numbers are not rounded.

2. Local adjustments to the supplied schools block data

In some cases, it will be necessary to use a local calculation or estimate for an indicator, based on the technical descriptions given in this document, to ensure the data used in the APT to calculate school budgets is representative.

This only applies to individual schools. This section describes when and how this should take place. You should record adjustments on the ‘Inputs & Adjustments’ sheet of the APT and must provide a clear explanation for the change in each case.

2.1 Schools undergoing change

In the case of a planned amalgamation, you should take the data from each of the schools as they appear in the ‘Schools Block Data’ sheet of the APT and then merge, using weighted sums for each of the factors.

In the example shown in table 2 below, Old Street Infants and Old Street Juniors are combining to form New Street Primary. The primary FSM proportion for the new school is calculated as the weighted average of the relevant proportion figures for the former schools. A similar calculation should be done for all of the other pupil-led factors.

Table 2: example weighted average calculation

School	NOR primary	Primary FSM proportion
Old Street Infants	300	0.10
Old Street Juniors	100	0.05
New Street Primary	300 + 100 = 400	((300 × 0.10) + (100 × 0.05)) / (300 + 100) = 0.0875

In the case of a new school with no relevant predecessors, or a school converting from the private sector, you should use either the local authority average or a local estimate based on similar schools in the local authority for the first year.

2.2 Individual data points that are not representative

For some schools, the indicator data contained in the schools block dataset will not be representative. In this case, it would be reasonable for you to use a local estimate for the indicator. Making such a change does not require our prior approval, but you must provide clear explanations for any such changes on the APT ‘Inputs & Adjustments’ sheet.

2.3 Anomalous primary/secondary pupils

Where a primary school has only 1 or 2 secondary phase pupils in the ‘Schools Block Data’ sheet of the APT (or conversely for a secondary school with a small number of primary phase pupils) this may suggest a school census recording error.

You may wish to verify whether these are errors and, if so, amend individual schools’ NOR data accordingly, to avoid incorrect formula allocations. Making such a change does not require our prior approval, but you must provide clear explanations for any such changes on the ‘Inputs & Adjustments’ sheet of the APT.

2.4 Sparsity distances

You can make exceptional applications for schools that open after the distances have been calculated. An existing school that qualifies for sparsity funding in the data provided will not lose that funding in-year if a new school opens nearby.

For schools that may qualify for sparsity funding because of another school nearby closing, you should agree an exceptional application with the relevant schools forum and submit that to us for approval.

3. Schools block schools and pupils

All mainstream schools that are recorded on the autumn 2024 census are included in the APT’s ‘Schools Block Data’ sheet. This covers all mainstream schools open on the census date, except the 2 city technology colleges, Emmanuel College and Thomas Telford School. Special schools, alternative provision (AP) schools, pupil referral units (PRUs), early years providers and all other institutions without schools block pupils are excluded.

The school filters applied to the census data to identify the schools included in the dataset are:

• the school type code is a value less than 50 or is equal to 55
• the phase is either ‘PS’ (primary, including academies), ‘MP’ (middle-deemed primary), ‘MS’ (middle-deemed secondary), ‘SS’ (secondary, including academies), or ‘AT’ (all-through, excluding PRUs)

The pupil filters applied ensure that only pupils aged 4 or over at the start of the 2024 to 2025 academic year and that are in national curriculum year groups reception to 11, or pupils aged 4 to 15 in year group X are counted. Note that pupils are counted as headcount, not full-time equivalent.

These are:

• On_Roll = 1 – the pupil must be recorded in the autumn 2024 census as on roll at a school passing the school-level filter
• EnrolStatus in (‘C’, ‘M’) – the pupil’s on roll status at the school is either ‘C’ or ‘M’; the pupil must either be solely registered at the school or, if dual-registered, have their main registration at the school

Then either of:

• NCYearActual in (‘R’, ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, ‘4’, ‘5’, ‘6’, ‘7’, ‘8’, ‘9’, ‘10’, ‘11’) and AgeAtStartOfAcademicYear >= 4 – the pupil must be recorded in the autumn 2024 census as in national curriculum year groups reception to 11 inclusive, and the pupil must be aged 4 or more on 31 August 2024
• NCYearActual = ‘X’ and AgeAtStartOfAcademicYear >= 4 and AgeAtStartOfAcademicYear < 16) – the pupil must be recorded in the autumn 2024 census as in year X (not following the national curriculum) and the pupil must be aged between 4 and 15 on 31 August 2024

The dataset only includes pupils which pass both the school and pupil filters.

The schools block data will allocate unresolved duplicates to each of the schools at which they are registered. This differs from the approach in the dedicated schools grant (DSG) calculation which apportions these pupils to ensure they are only funded once. This can result in slight variations in the number of pupils in each dataset.

3.1 School information

This section explains how the fields in the dataset which provide information about each school are obtained. It also describes how the London fringe, NOR and reception difference figures are produced.

These fields are taken from the autumn 2024 census, except for the URN and the school name which are matched from GIAS:

• URN
• LAEstab
• school name
• phase
• number of primary year groups for middle schools
• number of secondary year groups for middle schools
• number of primary year groups for all schools
• number of secondary year groups for all schools
• number of key stage 3 year groups for all schools
• number of key stage 4 year groups for all schools

Academy type

This field contains the value ‘0’ for maintained schools and ‘Recoupment Academy’ for academies. Using these in the schools block dataset aims to facilitate correct recording.

The valid values for this field are:

• Recoupment Academy
• 0

London fringe

There are 5 local authorities which have some, but not all, of their schools within the London fringe area. The districts in the 5 affected local authorities that fall within the London fringe are:

• Buckinghamshire - the former districts Chiltern and South Bucks
• Essex - Basildon, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow
• Hertfordshire - Broxbourne, Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Watford, Welwyn Hatfield
• Kent - Dartford, Sevenoaks
• West Sussex - Crawley

Any schools located within these districts will be assigned a London fringe multiplier:

• Buckinghamshire: 1.0177
• Essex: 1.0347
• Kent: 1.0378
• Hertfordshire: 1.0312
• West Sussex: 1.0588

For all other schools the multiplier will be 1.

School number on roll

• NOR
• NOR Primary
• NOR Reception
• NOR Y1-6
• NOR Secondary
• NOR KS3
• NOR KS4
• NOR Y7
• NOR Y8
• NOR Y9
• NOR Y10
• NOR Y11

Pupils have been counted by total, irrespective of whether they are part-time. Pupils recorded in national curriculum year groups reception to year 6 are classed as being in the primary phase and those in year groups year 7 to year 11 are classed as being in the secondary phase. Additionally, primary pupils are split into reception pupils and pupils in year 1 to year 6 and secondary pupils are split into key stage groups key stage 3 (year 7 to year 9) and key stage 4 (year 10 to year 11) and individual year 7 to year 11.

The NOR figures are calculated from the autumn 2024 census as the number of pupils at each school passing the pupil filters described in the ‘Schools block schools and pupils’ section of this guidance, whose national curriculum year group is in the relevant range.

Pupils recorded in year X in the autumn census aged between 4 and 15 are included in the data. These pupils are allocated to a year group based on their age at the start of the academic year. Table 3 below shows the year to which these pupils will be assigned.

Table 3: schools block year group for pupils recorded in year group X

Year group X pupils
Age at start of academic year	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Year group X pupils	R	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11

For total NOR, the range is reception to year 11 (including pupils in year X allocated to reception to year 11).

Unresolved duplicates will be counted in full at each school at which they are registered. This differs from the approach in the DSG where the pupils are apportioned to ensure they are only funded once.

Reception difference

The difference between the number of pupils on roll in reception (only those pupils aged 4 and over at the start of the academic year) in each school between the autumn 2023 and spring 2024 censuses is provided in the dataset.

This is calculated by subtracting the total number of reception year pupils in autumn 2023 from the total in spring 2024 or given as zero if the result of this calculation is negative. If there are no reception year pupils at the school, then the result is zero. This is illustrated in Table 4 below.

Table 4: reception difference illustration

URN	Autumn 2023 (1) Number of pupils in reception year	Spring 2024 (2) Number of pupils in reception year	Difference (3) (2 – 1)	Reception difference - Max(0, (3))
xxxx1	0	0	0	0
xxxx2	62	62	0	0
xxxx3	38	33	-5	0
xxxx4	55	62	7	7

3.2 Detailed specification for individual factors

For all of the indicators, the NOR filters apply at pupil level. Where a pupil does not have a valid response for the indicator in the census or other data source, they are excluded when calculating the indicator. For example, a pupil with no postcode recorded on the census is discounted when calculating a school’s IDACI proportions. The data used for each indicator is taken from the autumn 2024 census unless otherwise indicated.

Deprivation

The 3 deprivation factors are FSM, FSM6 and IDACI.

Free school meals

• Primary FSM Proportion
• Secondary FSM Proportion

The proportion of pupils eligible for FSM according to the autumn 2024 census has been aggregated to school level, with separate indicators for primary and secondary phase pupils.

Free school meals Ever 6

• Primary Ever 6 Proportion
• Secondary Ever 6 Proportion

This counts the proportion of pupils on roll on the autumn 2024 census that were recorded as eligible for FSM in any of the censuses (autumn, spring and summer, including the AP and PRU census) over the previous 6 years.

IDACI

• IDACI Primary Proportion Band G
• IDACI Primary Proportion Band F
• IDACI Primary Proportion Band E
• IDACI Primary Proportion Band D
• IDACI Primary Proportion Band C
• IDACI Primary Proportion Band B
• IDACI Primary Proportion Band A
• IDACI Secondary Proportion Band G
• IDACI Secondary Proportion Band F
• IDACI Secondary Proportion Band E
• IDACI Secondary Proportion Band D
• IDACI Secondary Proportion Band C
• IDACI Secondary Proportion Band B
• IDACI Secondary Proportion Band A

The IDACI is a subset of the indices of multiple deprivation (IMD). It is an area-based measure defined at the level of LSOA and is based on the data published in September 2019. It is a score between 0 and 1, which can be interpreted as the proportion of children aged under 16 in the LSOA that are in income deprived households.

Each LSOA is assigned a rank based on this score, with 1 being the most deprived. Further information on the updated IDACI figures can be found in the former government department, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s statistical release.

Only pupils living in the 37.5% most deprived areas by IDACI rank can be assigned deprivation funding through this factor, meaning there are 6 bands which can be given different unit values each for primary, and 6 for secondary phase pupils.

Table 5: IDACI bands

IDACI rank	IDACI band
Pupils in the most deprived 2.5% of LSOAs	A
Pupils in the next 5% most deprived LSOAs (2.5% to 7.5%)	B
Pupils in the next 5% most deprived LSOAs (7.5% to 12.5%)	C
Pupils in the next 5% most deprived LSOAs (12.5% to 17.5%)	D
Pupils in the next 10% most deprived LSOAs (17.5% to 27.5%)	E
Pupils in the next 10% most deprived LSOAs (27.5% to 37.5%)	F
Pupils in the remaining 62.5% LSOAs	G

For each of the bands, the proportion of pupils on the autumn 2024 census with valid IDACI details has been aggregated to school level, with separate indicators for primary and secondary phase pupils.

As the values represent the proportion of a school’s pupils in each IDACI band the total of the values for bands A to G for primary or secondary pupils will always equal 1 where the school has pupils in that phase.

English as an additional language (EAL)

• EAL 3 Primary Proportion
• EAL 3 Secondary Proportion

The EAL indicator is based on the language code given in the census. Both the short codes and the long codes are grouped so that pupils with an English code (including believed to be English) are ‘1_ENG’; pupils whose language is unknown or undeclared are ‘3_UNK’; and all other pupils are ‘2_OTH’.

Pupils attract EAL funding if they are grouped as ‘2_OTH’ from the language code on the autumn 2024 census and can be shown to have been in the school system for less than 3 years. This is achieved by deriving a pupil level ‘years in system’ count based on the pupil’s presence in the autumn 2021, autumn 2022 and autumn 2023 censuses.

Using the years in system indicator and the current national curriculum year, an estimated national curriculum start year can be derived. This is important, as the indicator is offset for pupils who were in reception, N1 or N2 for any of the years covered. We do this because language did not previously have to be declared in the census for pupils aged under 5, causing the data for pupils, when in reception, to be partial and unrepresentative. Also, for this reason, pupils in reception are excluded from the calculation of the ratio. Pupils grouped as ‘3_UNK’ are also excluded.

A school’s ‘EAL 3 Primary Proportion’ is calculated as the number of pupils in year groups 1 to 6 meeting the EAL 3 criteria, divided by the total number of pupils in years 1 to 6 with a valid language code.

Corresponding calculations are done to obtain the secondary proportions.

Prior attainment

The early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) results and key stage 2 attainment data are allowable indicators for primary and secondary prior attainment.

Primary prior attainment

Funding for primary schools can be targeted at pupils who did not achieve a good level of development on the new EYFSP.

• Low Attainment under new EYFSP Proportion

Pupils in the autumn 2024 census in years 1, 2, 3 and 6, are matched onto the new EYFSP data using their UPN.

As no tests were carried out in 2020 and 2021 (pupils now in years 4 and 5), data for pupils in year 3 is used for year 4 and year 6 data for year 5. If this data is not available, the primary proportion entered on the 2024 to 2025 APT is used. If this is also not available, then the 2025 to 2026 local authority average for years 3 or 6 is used.

A school’s proportion in the dataset is the number of pupils in years 1 to 6 recorded as not achieving a good level of development, divided by the number of pupils in year 1 to year 6 recorded in the attainment data. Pupils who could not be matched onto the attainment data, or for whom the attainment data does not provide a result, are excluded from this calculation.

Secondary prior attainment

• Low Attainment Secondary Proportion Year 7
• Low Attainment Secondary Proportion Year 8
• Low Attainment Secondary Proportion Year 9
• Low Attainment Secondary Proportion Year 10
• Low Attainment Secondary Proportion Year 11

For secondary schools, funding can be targeted at pupils who are below the expected standard of achievement in English reading, English teacher-assessed writing, or maths at key stage 2. Specifically, this means pupils scoring ‘B’ or ‘NS’ or ‘CA’ with a scaled score below 100 (after any adjustment) in maths or English reading; and pupils scoring ‘BLW’, ‘HNM’, ‘PKF’, ‘PKE’, ‘PKG’ or ‘WTS’ in English teacher assessed writing.

For years 7, 8 and 11, only pupils who have undertaken the assessment have been considered in calculating each school’s proportion. Pupils marked as absent or with a result other than those listed are excluded from this calculation. Pupils in years 7, 8 and 11 in the autumn 2024 census, who could not be matched onto the key stage 2 attainment data, are also excluded.

As no tests were carried out in 2020 and 2021 (pupils now in years 10 and 11) no data is available. For pupils in year 10, the data for year 9 is used. If this data is not available, the proportion entered on the 2024 to 2025 APT is used. If this is also not available, then the local authority average for year 9 is used. For year 11, the ratio entered on the 2024 to 2025 APT is used. Where this is not available the local authority average for year 11 from the 2023 to 2024 SBD will be used.

Mobility

• Mobility Primary Proportion
• Mobility Secondary Proportion

A separate primary and secondary school level proportion is provided, based on the number of pupils whose first census entry at their current school (or any of its predecessors) is within the previous 3 academic years, and whose first entry was not in an autumn census. If the pupil started in reception and their first entry is in autumn or spring, they will not be counted. Pupils who started the school in nursery classes are not mobile.

Any pupil appearing at a new school in the first census after its opening date will not be counted as mobile.

Any pupils which are duplicated (appearing against multiple schools) will be given null values, so will be excluded from the calculation of the mobility ratio.

Table 6 below shows examples of determining whether pupils are classed as mobile.

Table 6: illustration of pupil mobility calculation

Pupil	NC year actual	First census pupil registered at school (from previous 9 returns)	Academic year of first census	In previous 3 academic years?	Start year	School (or predecessor) opening date	Normal entry month	Mobility flag
1	R	Autumn 2024	2024 to 2025	Yes	R	September 2005	Yes	0
2	3	Spring 2022	2021 to 2022	Yes	R	August 2016	Yes	0
3	5	Spring 2023	2022 to 2023	Yes	3	January 2018	No	1
4	5	Summer 2022	2021 to 2022	Yes	2	January 2014	No	1
5	7	Autumn 2024	2024 to 2025	Yes	7	September 2016	Yes	0
6	8	Autumn 2022	2022 to 2023	Yes	6	August 2014	Yes	0
7	8	Summer 2022	2021 to 2022	Yes	5	September 2005	No	1
8	9	Spring 2023	2022 to 2023	Yes	8	December 2021	No	1

Funding is not provided for the first 6% of mobile pupils. Only those schools experiencing pupil mobility above the 6% threshold will receive funding. Each school’s mobility proportions given in the ‘Schools Block Data’ sheet of the APT are their actual mobility proportions as calculated; the deduction of the first 6% is done automatically by the APT’s calculations.

Sparsity

• Primary sparsity av. distance to 2nd school
• Secondary sparsity av. distance to 2nd school

The sparsity distance is the shortest distance by road from the school site to the pupil’s postcode. To identify the points on the road network, we firstly identify schools’ and pupils’ locations on a map. To do this we cross-reference geographic data from the school census and GIAS (the department’s database of schools), with Ordnance Survey address data.

Schools can typically be located using Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs). UPRNs are a unique numeric identifier for every addressable location, which are allocated and overseen by local authorities. Use of UPRNs represents a change to the current process, enabling us to measure distances from a point on the road closest to a school’s specific site as opposed to their postcode centroids, which can be closer to or further away from the actual school site for different schools.

In a minority of cases, UPRNs are inaccurately recorded in GIAS by schools, so we revert to use of postcodes or coordinates to locate schools. The GIAS frequently asked questions webpage includes information on how schools can check their UPRNs and correct them if necessary.

For pupils, we locate the closest building to their home postcode centroid. Locating the building is a necessary additional step allowing us to determine the correct road to route from. We do not include pupils’ postcodes that contain only Welsh or Scottish addresses in the calculation of sparsity distances by the road, because their closest or second closest school(s) might be in Wales or Scotland, for which we are unable to calculate a road distance.

Once we have found schools’ and pupils’ locations, we use the Ordnance Survey road network data to identify the closest access point to their locations on a road. We then calculate the shortest road distance from the nearest point on a road to the school, to the nearest point on a road to the pupil’s address, excluding footpaths and, where possible, avoiding roads such as farm tracks, guided busways and roads that have been altered for use principally by pedestrians as these are either unsuitable for normal school to home journeys, or we cannot be certain they will always be accessible. We acknowledge one-way roads as ones that can be accessed and travelled along from either direction. This avoids treating some schools differently, factoring in one-way streets on journeys from schools and pupils’ homes but not vice versa (because that is the direction of travel the sparsity distance has been based on).

Once we have calculated road distances, we calculate schools’ sparsity distances in the same way as for the ‘crow flies’ distance method: for each school, we identify pupils for whom it is their closest compatible school (by the road) and calculate the average distance to their second nearest compatible schools (by the road). In some cases this will not be the same pupils as those actually attending the school. We compare these distances to the sparsity distance thresholds to determine whether the school is remote.

A school may attract sparsity funding if it is:

• primary and has fewer than 21.4 pupils on average in each year group, and has a sparsity distance that is greater than or equal to 2 miles
• secondary and has fewer than 120 pupils on average in each year group, and has a sparsity distance that is greater than or equal to 3 miles
• a middle school and has fewer than 69.2 pupils on average in each year group, and has a sparsity distance that is greater than or equal to 2 miles
• an all-through school and has fewer than 62.5 pupils on average in each year group, and has a sparsity distance that is greater than or equal to 2 miles

In addition, the factor includes a distance threshold taper. This means that where schools’ sparsity distances are marginally below the main distance thresholds for sparsity funding, they will still attract some allocation through the national funding formula (NFF). The distance threshold taper has been set 20% below the main distance thresholds.

The default distance threshold is 3 miles for secondary schools and 2 miles for all other schools. If a local authority uses the distance taper, a primary school will meet the distance criteria if it has a sparsity distance greater than 1.6 miles (2 miles x 80%).

Local authorities may narrow the eligibility criteria by reducing the pupil numbers and/or increasing the distance criteria, but the criteria quoted above may not be widened. Exceptional applications can also be made on behalf of existing schools that do not attract sparsity funding using the above criteria.