Schools minister David Laws has announced additional funding is to be given to schools as part of a government drive to balance regional imbalances in education.

In a written statement, Mr Laws said that an extra £390 million will go to schools in poorly funded areas, which will go a long way to boosting their ability to deliver “world-class” teaching.

The MP for Yeovil explained that 69 local authorities have been earmarked for additional funding. By way of example, he said that this would result in Cambridgeshire having an extra £311 per pupil, while in Northumberland it would be £307.

“I want to be clear that it is for local authorities, in consultation with their schools forum, to decide how they distribute this additional funding between the schools in their area,” he said.

“If it is the collective judgement of a schools forum that there is a better way of distributing funding locally, then schools will not receive a budget that reflects each of the minimum funding levels directly.”

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), commented that while the association welcomes the news – any additional finance to areas that have historically been underfunded is a move forward – it still doesn’t tackle the longstanding problems in school budgets.

“This good news is completely overshadowed by the reality that all schools and colleges are facing huge holes in their budgets caused by pension contribution rises and other increasing costs,” he highlighted.

Describing it as a “real term reduction” in funding, Mr Lightman said that the consequence of this shortfall is likely to lead to bigger class sizes, fewer course options and a narrowing of the curriculum – schools simply will not be able to run subjects that have comparatively low interest.

He concluded by urging all political parties to include in the 2015 general election manifesto a genuine commitment to establishing a national system that ensures all schools are “funded equitably, adequately and in the context of the demands required of them”.