Parent Contribute To School Funding

At least 100 schools in England are pressuring parents to contribute financially to budgets, research suggests.

13:04 05 September 2015

A recent study has found that several schools in England, including those that are state-funded, are pressuring or obliging parents to contribute financially to budgets.

 

The British Humanist Association (BHA) looked into the first 100 schools that came up during a web search to identify potential breaches of rules. It found that the majority of the schools required parents to pay a share of building maintenance cost.

 

One Church of England primary, highlighted by the BHA, asks parents for an annual payment to what it calls its "Building Fund/Capitation for parents".

 

"This is not a voluntary contribution but it is a payment all Church of England schools require to maintain the school buildings and classrooms," it says.

 

Another school - a Catholic primary - says: "We will be asking all who have not contributed to the Building Fund yet for their contribution and writing to them at the beginning of next half term."

 

A third school explains that "as a voluntary aided school, parents of the pupils... are responsible for contributing 10% towards all building works", before going on to ask for £100 per family.