CHILDREN in Poole are among the biggest losers in the “postcode lottery” of funding for schools being highlighted by a teachers' union.

The borough is the second worst funded area in England, with schools expected to get £4,194 per pupil in 2015/16 – while schools in the 10 best funded areas of England are set to get £6,297 per pupil.

An analysis carried out by the Association of School and College Leaders found some schools likely to receive almost £2 million less than others over the next year – a funding gap big enough to pay for around 40 teachers they say.

The union has blamed the gulf on a “historic grant system that does not work” and said it is calling for a new, national fair funding formula to ensure schools are handed the money they need.

Andy Baker, ASCL branch secretary and headteacher of Poole Grammar School, said: “Children in Poole have a range of needs which are not dissimilar to those in other authorities, yet we have significantly less funding. There are pockets of deprivation in Poole, just like any borough, and we do not think that the funding formula accurately reflects the reality of need in Poole.

“It is particularly galling when schools are judged on the same terms by performance data, but disparities in resources are not factored in.”

Borough of Poole has long argued for reforms to the funding formula, said Cllr Mike Brooke. He added that, due to differing funding levels at different ages, that the youngest pupils in the borough were currently the “most disadvantaged.”

“It is having an impact. In order to make savings they might have to cut TAs or teacher support or sometimes cut staff, or there's potentially issues with maintenance of school buildings, and they might not have as much money to purchase books and equipment.”

He added: “It is unfair and any changes that redress that balance are to be welcomed.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said the government had protected the schools budget and committed to introducing a national funding formula after the next spending review which she called “the biggest step towards fairer funding in a decade.”

“We have put an extra £390 million into the schools budget for 2015-16 to increase the per-pupil budgets of the 69 least fairly funded areas,” she added.