HEADTEACHERS in Gwent hit out at new figures which show schoolchildren in Wales get £600 less spent on them per pupil than those in England.

News Welsh youngsters have £604 less spent on them than those in England was branded unfair.

The average spent on each pupil in Wales, from nursery to secondary level, was £5,595 in 2009/10 compared to £6,200 in England. This includes special schools and pupil referral units.

Blaenau Gwent spends the most per pupil - £6,231, 11 percent above the Welsh average of £5,595. Torfaen spends the least with £5,357 - 4.3 percent below the average.

Caerphilly spends £5,667, 1.3 percent above average and Newport £5,430, three percent under the average.

£2.5 billion was spent on education in Wales in 2009/10, compared to £1.4 billion in 1999/00.

Money is spent on all aspects of education, from books and equipment to buildings and transport.

Headteacher at Archbishop Rowan Williams Church in Wales Primary School and president of the National Association of Headteachers for Monmouthshire, Graham Murphy, said parity needs to be restored.

Schools in Monmouthshire spend an average of £5,831 per pupil, over the border in Gloucestershire, this figure is £5,901.

Mr Murphy said a difference like this can mean £14,000 they do not have to pay for someone to run a booster class for struggling youngsters, meaning they have to do without.

"It's so far from being fair - we've always made silk purses out of sows' ears. We should not be playing second fiddle to the English, there shouldn't be any differences - if we look to provide anything less than the best, we are selling them short."

Mr Murphy said he would like to see more cash ring-fenced for spending in schools - in Wales, 75 percent of the total gross schools budgeted expenditure is delegated to schools, with local authorities holding the rest, compared to 90 percent in England.

An Assembly spokeswoman said: "Over a number of years, the funding gap has been exacerbated by the reluctance of local authorities to ensure money reached the classroom. This is now being addressed as a direct result of pressure from the education minister."

She added that councils have agreed to increase the amount spent in schools from 75 percent to 80 percent within two years and 85 percent inside four years.

Gwent authorities spend per pupil, per year

  • Blaenau Gwent - £6,213 per pupil
  • Caerphilly - £5,667 per pupil
  • Monmouthshire - £5,831 per pupil
  • Newport - £5,430 per pupil
  • Torfaen - £5,357 per pupil

'Why are English children more valuable than Welsh?'

Hartridge High School headteacher Peter Jenkins got around £4,251 to spend per pupil at his school last year.

He said: "Pupils have a right of choice and the same amount of money should be provided to each pupil across Wales as it is in England."

Headteacher of Duffryn High, Jon Wilson said: "If I was based at a similar school on the other side of the Severn Bridge I would be getting around £600,000 more to spend. It’s not rocket science to work out the money could be used to help raise the achievements of pupils and to make the school a nicer place to learn."

Headteacher of Bryngwyn Primary in Six Bells, Gwyn Price said: "It is good that more is being spent on pupils in Blaenau Gwent as this reflects the needs of Blaenau Gwent but an equal amount should be spent on all pupils. Why is a child in England classed as more valuable than a child in Wales?"