The government has given Island education an extra £8.9 million for the forthcoming year, but cost pressures will eat into the funding boost.

Primary schools will receive £3,614 per pupil, up from £3,442 last year. Secondary schools will get an average of £5,420 for pupils across Key Stages 3 and 4, up from £5,161.

As well as per pupil funding, the £123 million also covers the costs of early years and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.

Although their income is rising, schools face additional costs. One is the negotiated teachers’ pay rise of 6½ per cent with the government funding only 3½ per cent of it. Schools must fund the balance.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), in its annual education funding report, published in December, found that total school spending since 2019 has risen by 7 per cent in real terms, but inflation has eroded purchasing power, and increases in staff pay and pensions mean schools face higher costs than overall inflation. The IFS say this means it will translate into a 2 per cent real terms increase for primary schools and a 1 per cent fall in secondary education. The 10 per cent increase in the National Living Wage, in April, will further eat into school budgets.

The Island is one of 35 local authorities set to benefit from a £20 million ‘hardship fund’ for maintained schools in “particular financial difficulties”. Only areas with the biggest overall school deficits qualify, with the Isle of Wight Council receiving £517,000.

The council can decide how to use it, but the Department for Education expects schools in greatest need to be prioritised. At the end of 2022/2023 the schools with the biggest deficit forecast were The Bay CofE School (£1,803,836) and Christ the King College (£868,972).