The government will provide more than £1 billion in funding for schools to cover the rise in employer national insurance contributions.
For the first time, the funding for mainstream schools will also include additional grants for those with special units and resourced provision to “support the higher staffing costs”, government said.
Overall, £930 million will cover rises in mainstream and high needs settings from April 2025 to March 2026.
Another £25 million will be issued for schools with early years provision, and £155 million for post-16 schools and further education colleges.
The cash will cover increases for both teachers and support staff, and for councils employing centrally-employed teachers.
From April 6, employers’ national insurance contributions will increase from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent.
Previous analysis by the National Foundation for Educational Research estimated a two per cent increase would cost £400 million for teachers. This did not include the estimated cost for the rise in contributions for support staff.
How much will schools get?
The payments are based on factors used in previous pay and pension grants, including a basic per-pupil rate and a lump sum paid to all schools (see funding rates below).
The base funding rates for 2025 to 2026 financial year are:
- a basic per-pupil rate of £78 for primary pupils, including pupils in reception
- a basic per-pupil rate of £68 for key stage 3 pupils
- a basic per-pupil rate of £77 for key stage 4 pupils
- a lump sum of £2400
- a FSM6 per-pupil rate of £75 per eligible primary pupil
- a FSM6 per-pupil rate of £60 per eligible secondary pupil
For academies, we will ensure that the usual arrangements are in place to cover the NICs grant for the period April to August 2026. The funding rates for this April to August portion of the grant will be five-twelfths of the full-year equivalent of the NICs grant. This means that the funding rates for the April to August payment to mainstream academies will be:
- a basic per-pupil rate of £33 for primary pupils, including pupils in reception
- a basic per-pupil rate of £28 for key stage 3 pupils
- a basic per-pupil rate of £32 for key stage 4 pupils
- a lump sum of £1000
- a FSM6 per-pupil rate of £31 per eligible primary pupil
- a FSM6 per-pupil rate of £25 per eligible secondary pupil
The 2025 to 2026 financial year funding rate for mainstream schools with eligible SURPs is £286 per place, and for the allocation calculations this full year rate has been split into:
- a flat rate of £119 per place for the April to August 2025 places in SURPs
- a flat rate of £167 per place for the September 2025 to March 2026 places in SURPs
Allocations in May, payment in September
The cash will be paid in the form of a grant, although for high needs settings it will go through the core schools budget grant.
Allocations for schools will be published in May, for payment in September. Updated allocations for new and growing schools will be published next February.
But government has today published a calculator tool for mainstream schools and academies to estimate their NICs grant funding.
The DfE said it was the first time that additional grant funding had been provided for schools with specialist units and resourced provision (SURPs).
“This funding will support the higher staffing costs that schools with SURPs typically face,” government said.
Funding for mainstream schools will be incorporated into core budget allocations for 2026 to 2027 by being rolled into the national funding formula.
