Spending

25. Spending on the school library was at an average of approximately £10.16 per pupil; the median is £3.75. If spending in excess of £25 per pupil is removed from the calculation then the spending per pupil was £4.75. The large difference between the mean and median demonstrates the dramatic effect that some high spending schools can have on the average.

26. LEA spending was quite low; grant maintained schools spent more, as did independent schools (especially over £10 per pupil). The specialist requirements for special schools raises the spending per pupil; the figures for City Technology Colleges should be viewed with care since there are only 8 in the sample.

27. Considering spending for the current financial year, this was reported at an average of approximately £10.63 per pupil; the median is £3.70. If spending in excess of £25 per pupil is removed from the calculation then the spending per pupil was £4.97.

28. Considering spending for the two financial years, responses suggest a small increase, year on year; however if the difference between years is calculated for each school the average difference is a drop of about £63 and a median of zero. These all go to imply a pegging of funding with an inflationary drop (real terms). While, again, the figures are relatively stable, Northern Ireland schools appear to anticipate a drop in spending between the two periods.

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