West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has this week confirmed that rural schools will get extra support as part of the funding review being carried out by the Department for Education. Smaller schools will benefit from a fixed lump sum payment in the new funding formula, making it easier for them to manage their budgets. The MP wrote to the Department speaking up for dozens of local schools who forwarded comments to her about the funding review. This week, Education Minister Sam Gymiah wrote to Harriett confirming that ‘small schools in geographically challenging circumstances should attract extra funding through a sparsity factor’. This will mean that schools serving very rural areas will get extra support based on their location and catchment area to ensure they stay economically viable. Harriett wrote to the Department as part of the consultation process urging them to take account of the challenges of rural school funding when re-assessing the national funding formula. Harriett said: “I am grateful to the Minister for such an open and forthright response. We all welcome the addressing of the old funding formula but many of the smaller schools were concerned that a simple formula calculation would not take into account their unique budgeting challenges. “This will be highly welcome news for some of the smaller first, middle and primary schools across the county who have to work with very rural catchment areas and varying class intakes. “The Department also accepted suggestions which I made about helping schools which are planning for future growth and confirmed that the local authorities will be given funding to cover pupil growth numbers over the next three years. “This is a clear indication that the Department is listening to our feedback to make sure we deliver the right conditions to help our excellent network of rural schools to continue to deliver the best possible education for our children.”