The Schools' Forum

The Schools Forum is a statutory body made of up of schools and non-schools members. Local Authorities are obliged to consult their Schools Forums annually in respect of issues relating to the schools budget, specifically in connection with the following:

• arrangements for the education of pupils with special educational needs
• arrangements for the use of pupil referral units and the education of children otherwise than at school
• arrangements for early years provision
• administrative arrangements for the allocation of central government grants paid to schools via the authority

The Department for Education (DfE) has published a guide on the role of the Schools' Forum.

Schools Funding Formula Consultation 2026/2027

The consultation period is 10 October to 7 November.

• Consultation Document 2026-27 (PDF, 148KB)
• Summary of Models (MS Excel, 52KB)
• Scenario 1 Lower MFG Limit, School Block Transfer 0% (MS Excel, 73KB)
• Scenario 2 Lower MFG Limit, School Block Transfer 0.5% (MS Excel, 73KB)
• Scenario 3 Lower MFG Limit, School Block Transfer 0.75% (MS Excel, 73KB)
• Scenario 4 Upper MFG Limit, School Block Transfer 0% (MS Excel, 73KB)
• Scenario 5 Upper MFG Limit, School Block Transfer 0.5% (MS Excel, 74KB)
• Scenario 6 Upper MFG Limit, School Block Transfer 0.75% (MS Excel, 74KB)
• Schools Funding Formula Consultation 2026 to 2027 presentation (MS PowerPoint, 2MB)
• The consultation results can be seen in Appendix 3 of the Local Schools Block Formula for 2026/27 report of meeting agenda and papers 4 December 2025 (PDF, 1.1MB)

Schools' Forum reference documents   

• Schools’ Forum Constitution and Terms of Reference 2025-26 (PDF, 205KB)
• Schools' Forum membership (PDF, 150KB)
• Cheshire East Schools’ Forum funding Working Group Terms of Reference 2025 (PDF, 115KB)
• Cheshire East Schools' forum early years reference group terms of reference 2025 (PDF, 140KB)
• Schools' Forum funding working group membership 2024 (PDF, 180KB)
• Schools' Forum Declarations of interest 2025-2026 (PDF, 145KB)
• Growth Fund Criteria – as requested by Schools Forum from 2022-2023 (PDF, 88KB)
• Schools’ Forum Glossary of terms and acronyms 2023 (PDF, 196KB)

Schools’ Forum meetings 2025-26

The meetings of the Schools’ Forum for 2025-26 are as follows:

• Thursday 12 February 2026 - MS Teams
• Thursday 11 June 2026 - MS Teams

Meetings to take place 4.30pm - 6.00pm

If you are a member of the Public, please contact Schools.ForumClerk@cheshireeast.gov.uk for details on how to join the meeting.

Agendas and minutes of previous meetings

• Schools finance information
• 2025 meetings
• 2024 meetings
• 2023 meetings
• 2022 meetings
• 2021 meetings

Document accessibility