Hmm. No, I don't think so.
The £10k thing is a notional link to 'high needs pupils'. The School funding reform: Arrangements for 2013-14 says:
- There are a number of simple steps that have been taken to develop the place-plus approach:
a. defining ?high needs? ? we have defined the threshold between needs that we would expect to be met through mainstream funding and those where additional funding is required. We have set this threshold at around £10,000 of education provision per year. We have deliberately defined high needs with regard to a financial threshold, as opposed to an assessment-based threshold, to avoid creating a potential pressure for additional statutory assessments;
b. defining the contribution made by mainstream providers ? mainstream schools, Academies and colleges will be expected to contribute the first £6,000 of the additional education support costs of a high needs pupil;
c. introducing an equivalent level of base funding for specialist settings ? specialist pre-16 SEN settings will receive base funding of £10,000 per planned place. Post-16 specialist SEN / learning difficulty and disability (LDD) provision will be funded slightly differently, but on an equivalent basis to mainstream post-16 settings. AP settings will receive base funding of £8,000 per planned place. Base funding will ensure equivalence of funding between providers, and will offer some stability of funding for specialist settings; and
d. aligning funding and educational commissioning responsibilities ? above this threshold, commissioners and providers will liaise directly over top-up funding for individual pupils based on their assessed needs.
So, the idea is to level the playing field between MS and Special Schools in funding. Mainstream schools must put in the first £6K and Special schools, who don't have a separate 'SEN' budget, will get a base £10k per pupil.