School fund-raising nets £1.5bn

Money raised varies greatly between areas

Schools in England are raising more than £1.5bn a year from businesses, parents and local clubs, figures show.

About £244 million of the total comes from donations from parents and businesses and churches.

Many schools are making substantial amounts from letting out their halls or rooms, including some state boarding schools which let rooms during breaks.

Head teachers complain that the extra money is needed to pay for basics such as teachers' salaries and equipment.

The figures - published on the website of the Department for Education and Skills - show that secondary schools in England raised an average of nearly £222,000 each in 2003/4. That is a total of more than £750m.

Primary schools raised an average of £35,000 each, a total of £624.5m. There are wide regional variations however.

Central and local government funding delegated to schools in 2003-04 was more than £23bn, the government said.

David Hart, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers said: "The stark reality is that under the current funding system, we are not getting enough into school budgets.

"Too much is lost between central government and schools. Until we make sure that money gets to front-line schools, we will always need money from elsewhere."

Margaret Morrissey, from the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said the figures showed the commitment of the vast majority of parents to their children's schooling.