What is a banded funding model for SEND?

The definition

A banded funding model is how a local authority allocates top-up funding for high-needs pupils, using pre-set bands tied to a pupil's type and complexity of need. There is no national standard; each LA designs its own. In practice, an assessed need (usually set out in an EHC plan) is matched to a band, and each band carries an indicative annual top-up value. The Department for Education backs this approach: its 2026 to 2027 high needs operational guide says a banding framework that shows the range of top-up for a given type and complexity of need helps deliver clear, transparent funding, and that a consistently applied local banding framework "can be particularly important".

Where banding sits: the three funding elements

Banding only allocates the third of three funding elements. It does not replace the funding a school is already expected to commit, so a band value is not the total spend on a child. The structure is the same across England:

• Element 1 (core education funding): the per-pupil base that every pupil attracts.
• Element 2 (additional support funding): the first £6,000 of additional SEN support per pupil, which the mainstream school is expected to meet from its own budget. This comes from the school's notional SEN budget and is the basis of the £6,000 threshold.
• Element 3 (top-up funding): the funding above £6,000, paid by the placing local authority. This is the element a band allocates. See element 3 top-up funding and how high needs funding works for schools.

The £6,000 notional SEN budget threshold has a statutory footing: the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2025 (regulation 11) require LAs to identify a notional SEN budget within each maintained mainstream school's delegated share, and the SEND Code of Practice 2015 frames the same £6,000 expectation. There is no national formula for calculating the notional SEN budget itself, so LAs use local factors.

Why "no national standard" matters when you design a model

Because element 3 is locally designed, banding schemes vary widely: some LAs use a points or matrix system, some convert need into hours of teaching-assistant support, and some publish an opaque web of descriptors. A 2023 survey found 129 of 143 LAs were using banding or matrix systems. Band values are policy-set, which is the part most worth flagging in a cabinet paper: a band can be frozen or cut without re-assessing the child, so the same plan can buy less provision in real terms over time. An illustrative band ladder (illustrative only, not statutory) gives a sense of the shape:

• Band 1: around £2,000 a year (lower-level top-up).
• Band 2: around £5,000 a year.
• Band 3: around £7,500 a year (higher complexity).

For context, a special school place is funded at £10,000 per place before any top-up is added. When you set or defend your own ladder, the numbers and band descriptors are yours to design and to evidence.

Reform watch

The high-needs system is mid-reform, so a model designed now should note the direction of travel. The Dedicated Schools Grant statutory override on high-needs deficits has been extended to March 2028, the Safety Valve and wider intervention programmes continue, and the February 2026 Schools White Paper signals a longer-term narrowing of EHC plans towards the most complex needs, with no changes taking effect before September 2030. State current law in your paper and flag the direction of travel without committing to a timeline. The DfE high needs operational guide is the source to cite for the current rules.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.