The Government has been slammed by Labour figures after a £370 million miscalculation in its funding plans for schools, with some of Northumberland's rural schools hit particularly hard.

The error was discovered last month, with officials at the Department for Education apologising after the number of pupils was "underestimated". A planned 2.7% increase per pupil for 2024/25 was revised down to 1.9%.

The originally planned increase would have inflated the overall schools budget by £370 million. The mistake means that mainstream primary and secondary pupils will be given at around £50 less per pupil than originally forecast.

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For some of Northumberland's most isolated schools, the impact is far greater. For example, Kielder First School is facing a loss of £278 per pupil under the new figures according to Labour's analysis - although it should be pointed out that this equates to a total loss of £2,221 from the amount promised in July, as the remote village's school has just eight pupils.

Elsewhere, Otterburn Primary School will lose £79 per pupil and Haydon Bridge High School has seen a £68 reduction per student. In total, schools in Northumberland will be £1,991,621 worse off following the revisions.

Joe Morris, who is Labour's candidate for the Hexham Constituency at the next General Election, hit out at the Government for the error.

He said: "The Conservatives can’t manage our school budgets properly and have left schools in Northumberland and across our constituency counting the cost of their incompetence. This is a serious failure by the Conservative Government that will negatively impact children and families across the constituency."

The DfE has pointed out that no money had been paid out to schools, so the error did not mean adjusting funding schools had already received.

A spokeswoman for the department added: "The Permanent Secretary has taken full responsibility for this error.

"The total amount that the school sector will receive remains unchanged at £59.6 billion in 2024-25, the highest it has ever been in history, in real terms per pupil.”

The Conservative leader of Northumberland County Council, Coun Glen Sanderson, pointed out that majority of the county's schools were performing well.

He said: "It is important to stress this funding miscalculation was an error by the Department for Education – not the county council. We are working through the figures to be clear what this will mean for individual schools, and with 92% currently rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, we remain confident this will not adversely impact young people’s education or longer-term opportunities.

"We are absolutely committed to ensuring our children and young people have the best start in life and our schools and those who work in them are crucial to this.

"We are delighted that Ofsted inspection outcomes for the county are at a record high, with year on year improvements. Overall, 92% of schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted."