TEACHERS’ leaders warned the Welsh government at the weekend to accept proposals for school funding to avoid a postcode lottery.

NAHT Cymru’s Laura Doel was responding to the publication of a review of the funding formula for Welsh schools.

“We have long argued that the messy postcode lottery in how local authorities allocate school funding lacks transparency and makes it impossible to understand whether schools are getting a fair and equitable share of resources compared to their counterparts in different parts of Wales,” Ms Doel said.

“We understand that all schools are different and that funding should reflect pupil cohorts and each local context — but it’s important that this is done on the basis of clear and up-to-date national guidelines.

“These recommendations must therefore act as a wake-up call to the Welsh government, and it’s important that they are implemented.”

Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle said: “This review and recommendations will enable us to consider how the system can be improved to make a fairer funding system across Wales, to enable more transparent, comparable and consistent funding across Welsh schools.”

NAHT Cymru has been critical of the Welsh government’s draft budget for 2025-26 and has sought to find out how much money from extra spending in England has been allocated to education in Wales.

“The Welsh government has failed to answer basic questions over what if any additional funding schools will receive as a consequence of the increased education spending in England announced in last autumn’s UK Budget,” Ms Doel added.

“Too many schools simply do not have the money they need to set balanced budgets.”