1. Three types of spend are being combined into one budget: SEN Block Grant + FE high needs spend + LLDD placement budget spend = Post-16 High Needs Block Local Authorities commission high needs provision from the High Needs Block. EFA places some of the funding on behalf of LAs Independent Specialist Providers, Special Schools, Non- Maintained Special Schools will now be funded through the 16-19 National Funding Formula programme funding What is Changing?

2. High Needs Students (HNS) This is funding for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and/or special educational needs with support costs above £6,000 The system is based on the same principles for all children and young people from ages 0 – 24 It is called place plus – places are funded by the EFA and any additional top-up funding by the home local authority There are three elements to High Needs Funding

3. High Needs Students (HNS) The place – EFA Funded Element 1 This uses the standard 16-19 Funding Formula and covers the cost of the study programme. Element 2 This is the first £6,000 of additional support – numbers are calculated based on information provided by the local authority about the number of places it is going to commission from each institution and the EFA adds £6,000 for each place to the allocation – completing the place funding. The Plus – Top up Funding – LA Funded Element 3 The extra support funding the individual requires above £6,000 is negotiated and agreed with the student’s home LA.

4. HNS: What are we doing? The headline changes  A single birth to 25 budget  All post 16 institutions treated and funded on an equivalent basis  Educational commissioning and funding brought together  Introduction of the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) The principles Simplicity Transparency Fairness and Equality Consistency

5. HNS: Why are we doing it?  Current system is very complex and difficult to understand: It does not meet the test of funding similar pupils in similar circumstances at similar levels In practice levels of funding are widely different Perverse incentives between funding streams and provider types Educational funding being used for health care costs All of these reasons, and more, were set out in the SEN Green Paper and the funding proposals set out in School funding reform: next steps towards a fairer system 5

6. What does the whole system look like? Element 1: Core education funding Element 2: Additional support funding Element 3: Top-up funding Mainstream settings Pre-16 SEN and AP Specialist settingsAll settings Post-16 SEN and LDD “Top-up” funding from the commissioner to meet the needs of each pupil or student placed in the institution Mainstream per-pupil funding (AWPU) Contribution of £6,000 to additional support required by a pupil with high needs, from the notional SEN budget Base funding of £10,000 for SEN and £8,000 for AP placements, which is roughly equivalent to the level up to which a mainstream provider would have contributed to the additional support provision of a high needs pupil. Base funding is provided on the basis of planned places. Mainstream per-student funding (as calculated by the national 16-19 funding system) Contribution of £6,000 to additional support required by a student with high needs This diagram appeared as Figure 1 (p.43) of School funding reform: Next steps towards a fairer system. PLACE LED PUPIL LED

7. Funding flow: Placement in a post 16 institution 7 Place-led funding Student-led funding EFA Commissioning local authority Schools BlockEarly Years Block Element 3 of the High Needs Block Post 16 Institution Element 1Element 2Element 3 Passported via the maintaining LA for maintained institutions (part of the overall high needs block)

8. Top-up funding – element 3 How will top-up funding work in practice? Per-student Based on the student’s assessed needs Flows directly between the commissioner and provider Follows the student in or close to their real-time movement Will top-up funding be per-student, or can I set a flat rate? How top-up is arranged is a matter for local determination. Local authorities may choose to use local banding frameworks, to facilitate management of top-up funding. Top-up funding, however, must reflect a student’s needs and the cost of the provision they receive in a particular setting, and it is unlikely that an entirely standard approach without scope to reflect a student’s needs would do this. Will this mean that schools receive different top-up rates from different local authorities? In theory this could happen, but we consider that this could be mitigated most effectively by local authorities working together to plan and commission provision on a consistent basis.

9. Post-16 settings (mainstream and specialist) 9 Element 1: Core education funding Element 2: Additional support funding Element 3: Top-up funding “Top-up” funding from the commissioner to meet the needs of each pupil or student placed in the institution Mainstream per- student funding (as calculated by the national 16-19 funding system) Contribution of £6,000 to additional support required by a pupil or student with high needs Post-16 high needs provision will be funded in an equivalent way across all provider types. This budget will be provided by the maintaining local authority (for maintained schools) or the EFA (for all non-maintained settings). All providers will receive an allocation of mainstream per-student funding calculated by the national 16-19 funding formula – this recognises the different programmes of learning that young people access. All providers will receive an allocation of additional support funding of £6,000 for each high needs student placed with them. The allocation will be calculated using student numbers from the last full academic year. As at present, specialist providers will be able to request that their allocations are reviewed if their current number of students is significantly higher than their lagged numbers. As such, for a student on a course costing £5,500 per year, the provider would contribute £11,500 (course cost plus £6,000), while for a student on a course costing £4,000, the provider’s contribution would be £10,000. The contribution to the cost of a student’s additional education support will be consistent, however, at £6,000. Top-up funding will be: provided direct to the provider from the commissioning local authority; provided in or close to the pupil’s or student’s real-time movement; and based on the pupil’s or student’s assessed needs.