Revealed: which schools spend the most per pupil

The 1,251 pupil campus in Codsall spends £8,242 per student while Ormiston NEW Academy in Fordhouses was second, spending £8,009 on each of its 867 pupils.

St Matthias School in Wolverhampton was third, shelling out £7,962 on each of its 882 students with Bushbury’s Moreton School, which has 1,020 students, was fourth with a figure of £7,866 per pupil.

In fifth place was Ormiston SWB Academy which spends £7,804 on each of its 1,166 pupils.

The latest statistics apply to the 2022/23 financial year when spending per pupil in Wolverhampton ranged from £8,242 to £4,174.

Nationally the average spend per pupil in the same financial year was £7,200, in Dudley the range in spending per pupil goes from £11,000 to £6,434.

There are many factors affecting what a school spends per pupil however studies have shown extra spending has the greatest positive impact on disadvantaged pupils receiving free school meals.

In terms of academic achievement across a whole school population, a study for the University of York by academics Cheti Nicoletti and Birgitta Rabe found an extra £1,000 can boost maths, English and science GCSE grades by three percent for low attainment pupils and nine percent for high achievers.

In a report published in March 2024, before the general election, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) predicted increases in school spending will mean a historical high in 2024/25.

The IFS said: “This is not really much of an achievement. Prior to 2010, school spending per pupil was usually at a record level every year.

“As a society, we have generally chosen to increase real-terms spending on schools as we have seen economic growth and become richer.

“The fact that school spending per pupil was not at a record high between 2010 and 2023 reflects the fact that we have just seen a historically large real-terms cut in spending per pupil.”