Cash given to schools through a Conservative levelling-up scheme has been cut by almost £30 million, with only those receiving RISE improvement support set to receive a share.

Those located in an “education investment area” (EIA), left-behind parts of the country funnelled money by the Tories, had previously been prioritised funding through the connect the classroom scheme.

But Schools Week revealed in March officials were drawing up fresh eligibility criteria after the EIA programme was axed by the new government.

And in an update published today, the Department for Education confirmed those “receiving targeted intervention” through RISE will be eligible.

They will be contacted directly by DfE and receive funding if they fall below its “wifi connectivity standards”, which include having “fully functional signal from a wireless network” and “installing security features to stop unauthorised access”.

£25m available this year

The government said £25 million is available in 2025-26 – less than the almost £54 million a year allocated through the fund between 2021 and 2025. Over the period, £215 million had been handed out.

Under the last government, EIA schools were also prioritised for money through the trust capacity fund, which was binned by Labour towards the end of last year.

Meanwhile, secondary teachers working in the investment areas could access larger targeted retention incentive payments, previously called levelling-up premiums.

DfE confirmed they will still be in line for bigger amounts in 2025-26. However, this will be reviewed ahead of the following round, though.  

As part of the EIA programme, 24 of the regions were later classified as priority education investment areas (PEIAs), places with high levels of deprivation as well as low achievement.

They were allocated a share of the £42 million local needs fund, used to pay for bespoke interventions to improve attainment in the PEIAs through to the end of March 2025.

At the time, the schools white paper said this would aim to address “entrenched underperformance, including in literacy and numeracy”.

But Labour also decided not to extend that funding for PEIAs.

Our analysis two years ago suggested the EIAs and PEIAs received just £50 per child through the schemes.