SCHOOLS in Dorset could end up paying the price for the government’s pupil premium announced as part of the spending review.

Education chiefs at Dorset County Council warn that the coalition government’s flagship £2.5billion policy, that aims to benefit disadvantaged children, could take money away from the county.

Under the plans, additional funds will be paid to a school each year for every pupil it has on free school meals.

But John Nash, the county council’s officer for Children’s Services, said that only six schools in Dorset would benefit.

The government announced the schools budget nationally for five to 16-year-olds will rise 0.1 per cent in real cash terms in each year of the spending review taking funding from £35billion to £39billion.

Mr Nash said Dorset was unlikely to benefit.

He said: “In terms of the national pot, the total spent on education will rise over four years but the pupil premium will move money away from places like Dorset and into the inner cities.

“We do not have high levels of free school meals so we will lose.

“About six schools in Dorset, out of 173, will benefit from the pupil premium and the other 167 will lose – the pupil premium could adversely affect Dorset schools.”

The council’s cabinet member for children’s services Toni Coombs said ministers had recognised that some schools would lose out because of the pupil premium, details of which were contained in an education White Paper published last month.

She said: “If government do anything to change the funding formula, we will always get winners and losers.”

In addition to the blow of the pupil premium and following on from the decision to halt Building Schools for the Future (BSF), capital spending is being cut by 60 per cent.

This means some capital projects in Dorset, for example the Portland Academy, are yet to be secured. The Purbeck Review, however, is secure as the council has already agreed to invest £36.5million in the project.

The White Paper published by Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove raises the threshold at which schools are considered to be failing.

Currently, a school is considered to be failing if fewer than 30 per cent of pupils are achieving A*-C but this will now be raised to 35 per cent.

But John Nash said no secondary schools in Dorset would be affected. He said: “No school has under 40 per cent of pupils achieving A*-C in Dorset.”