Can academies charge for equipment?

[UncleMatthewsEntrenchingTool]

There was a very helpful thread a few days ago with contributions by @prh47bridge about compulsory charges for secondary school equipment.

Do the same rules apply for academies? Three days in and we have had the first request for £10 for the purchase of an art pack.

Does the education act apply in the same way to academies as they are not ‘maintained’ schools?

@prh47bridge Disadvantaged students don’t have to pay. They will mostly get funded via the pupil premium grant the school receives. Therefore, your point about poor children being excluded or being barred from receiving a full education is invalid.

In the time you have spent posting about those awful schools charging parents for an art pack or a pen or a calculator, you could have written to your MP asking what they are doing to help increase funding in schools.

That isn't how pupil premium works. It is not some kind of individual budget. I am certainly aware of schools that try to levy illegal compulsory charges on all parents, including parents of children for whom the school receives the pupil premium. So my point is completely valid.

I could have written to my MP. However, state funded schools are now outperforming independent schools despite the fact that the latter receive better funding. Research has shown that there is no correlation between funding and outcomes in state schools in England. And, as I pointed out previously, many state schools manage to comply with the law, including many of the schools with the lowest funding per pupil. So I don't believe lack of funding is a good reason for schools to break the law.

sunshine that is the way PP should work, yes. But in truth there is a a gulf in some schools between what it should be paying for, and what it does pay for. It isn't an amount that is ring-fenced for the particular child who attracts it, it can be spent on improving the overall attainment gap between disadvantaged and more fortunate pupils. Phr47 is correct. And writing to your MP is great but won't solve the immediate issue at hand, which is a school trying to hood wink parents into thinking they have the right to charge for certain things when they don't. Many parents wouldn't have the nous to investigate and would just take the word of the school - it is a separate matter from overall school funding.

@prh47bridge The school is given a set amount
of money per disadvantaged child. Whilst some of the money is earmarked for more general things, they do fund “extras” for certain pupils like trips, revision guides, equipment etc. That is what the money is there for. If parents are in difficultly, then they need to contact the school and they will help.

Sorry, I pressed post before I finished. I think the main issue is that lots of parents who complain are not the ones who can’t actually afford it. They are the ones who would just rather spend their money on other luxuries as they don’t see their child’s education as being their responsibility.

they do fund “extras” for certain pupils like trips, revision guides, equipment etc. That is what the money is there for. If parents are in difficultly, then they need to contact the school and they will help

That may be true at your school. I can assure you it is not true at all schools by any means. The school is required to show that it is using the pupil premium in ways that benefit disadvantaged children. I know of schools that achieve this without doing the things you list. Maybe they should but there is currently no specific requirement for them to do so.

I think the main issue is that lots of parents who complain are not the ones who can’t actually afford it. They are the ones who would just rather spend their money on other luxuries as they don’t see their child’s education as being their responsibility.

I agree completely.

The school is given a set amount
of money per disadvantaged child. Whilst some of the money is earmarked for more general things, they do fund “extras” for certain pupils like trips, revision guides, equipment etc. That is what the money is there for. If parents are in difficultly, then they need to contact the school and they will help.

You misunderstand.
Schools can, and do, spend their pupil premium money on anything that raises attainment for disadvantaged students. This can include, for example, training some staff in better methods to target effective intervention, providing revision guides, staffing an intervention program etc.

The money isn't earmarked for anything beyond raisinf attainment for disadvantaged students. There's a common myth on Mumsnet that anytime a PP eligible student needs something that parents should contact school and school will pay.

Schools are accountable for the impact of PP funds on a cohort level .

OP are you keeping the Art pack or will you be returning it once your child has left school?