EDUCATION leaders in Bridport have called on the government to provide "more resources" after it was revealed that west Dorset school are set to lose more than £1m from their budgets by 2019.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has calculated that schools in the Dorset County Council area will lose £13,036,592 from their annual budgets by 2019. The figures have been based on the Government’s new national funding formula.

Schools in the Bridport, Lyme Regis and Beaminster areas have been estimated to see a total loss of £1,046,159. The NUT research indicated that the Sir John Colfox Academy will lose £359,904 from its budget by 2019 - equating to a loss of £524 per pupil. The NUT believes Woodroffe School will lose £308,425 - a loss of £362 per student.

Kay Taylor, executive principal of the Minerva Trust, which includes the Sir John Colfox Academy and local primary schools, believes the trust schools are in a "better position than others".

She added: "We can only hope that the Government will listen to the concerns of headteachers and put more resources into supporting our children’s education and their future.

"The Minerva Learning Trust is determined to work closely together to protect schools, their families and communities”.

Colfox headteacher David Herbert believes that the school's actual budget will not see a dramatic change.

He said: "The National Union of Teachers calculations are very much a worst case scenario that schools could face over the coming three years. Despite a new national funding formula and some changes in the funding for academies, the actual budget that Colfox will receive is relatively unchanged."

He added: "We have been preparing for this over the last two to three years and our school budget is in fact in very good shape to face these changes in school funding. However we welcome the attention that is being brought to this issue and think it is important that everyone understands that trying to do more, with less, is not going to be easy for the profession as a whole."

Beaminster School is calculated to lose £18,171 from its budget, St Catherine's Primary School could lose up to £74,181 and Bridport Primary School is set to lose £67,051.

Dorset County Council said it was 'disappointed' in the level of funding for the county's schools.

Cllr Deborah Croney, Dorset County Council’s cabinet member for learning and skills, said: “We welcome the Government’s second consultation on a national funding formula for schools. Overall, this signals a step towards rebalancing schools funding nationally and an increase in funding for Dorset pupils.

“However, we are disappointed at the level of increase in funds for Dorset schools and the method chosen to distribute funding to schools. All schools are facing considerable financial pressures with little increase in funding since 2010. Schools are taking action to manage within the funding they have. We expect this to have some impact on pupils but not on the scale suggested by trade unions.”