Overall structure

Each part of the British Isles is responsible for education within it.   The largest administration area is England (under the control of the Dept for Education and Skills - DfES).   The other administrations are the Scottish Assembly, the Welsh Assembly, the N Ireland Assembly, the Ministry of Education in the Republic of Ireland, and the education departments of the States of Guernsey and the States of Jersey.

In terms of the UK, England accounts for 90% of educational expenditure.

Local authority and government funding   

Within the UK, local authorities have significant powers in terms of education, although in each case the authorities have to follow the rules laid down by the governmental assemblies and the DfES.  Thus the local authority implements policy laid down by the central office, but does have some flexibility as to how this is done.

Schools receive their funds each year from the local authority, but in England a series of crises at the start of the 21st century led to a reform of the system, the introduction of a rolling 3 year budget plan, a restriction on how much money can be carried forward by the school each year, and a faster delivery of funds to schools.  New systems of accounting practice for schools to adopt were also introduced at the same time.

Secondary school funding

Headteachers dispense money to various departments, keeping some back for their own use and some for contingency plans.   Heads of department have money to spend during the year, and there is also the chance of others (most noteably the deputy head) having access to the reserve funds.

Primary school funding

Primary schools tend to have subject co-ordinators rather than heads of department, and these tend to have less access to money.   It is not uncommon, even in the larger primary schools, for the head to keep control over all money, and for the subject co-ordinators to have to go cap in hand to the head for anything and everything required.

E-learning credits

For a number of years the DfES in England (and only England) has been giving schools an additional expenditure in terms of E-learning credits - money that can only be spent on approved product which directly relates to the national curriculum between key stages 1 and 4.   This series of additional payment is due to end in 2008.

Private school funding

Funding for private schools comes from school fees and, in some cases, from bequests and investments, some of which result from selling off land left to the school in the past.  Generally speaking it is handled in the same way as in the local authority sector.

FE funding

Expenditure here is handled in the same way as in secondary schools.

HE funding 

In universities and  colleges of higher education expenditure can be handled in many different ways, with some having funding in the hands of departments, others in faculties, and some also in the hands of powerful colleges.   Thus here purchasing may be in the hands of central bodies, colleges or subject areas.  Because of this differentiation it is almost always vital to precede any marketing campaigns with some research as to the way in which each university is acting over specific expenditure issues.