The extra funding varies from school to school

Reports from Ofsted have highlighted schools which manage their special Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) funding effectively.

It says most of them spent all or nearly all of the grant on staff, who were often hard to recruit and keep.

But funding cuts meant they were having to top it up from general budgets.

Retaining staff

"Not all, however, were able to find the money to do this and many were anxious about the future," Ofsted said.

Schools were pessimistic about being able to sustain the excellent work they had built up over the years if funding continued to decline Ofsted

At primary level there had been cuts of up to 50%.

In half the schools, the amount of top-up funding was "considerable".

One large primary - not identified - had provided an additional �74,000, another had doubled its �14,000 grant so that highly valued staff could be retained.

"Overall, schools were pessimistic about being able to sustain the excellent work they had built up over the years if funding continued to decline," Ofsted reported.

At secondary level, all of the schools regularly used top-up funding, ranging from several hundred pounds to, in one instance, �206,445.

'Concerned'

Some were able to draw on funding from their specialist school or beacon status or from other sources.

Ofsted said senior managers were "adept at using a wide range of funding streams to back up their commitment to equality issues".

But it added: "They were, nevertheless, concerned about the long-term implications of the decline in EMAG funding."

The stated intention of EMAG, introduced in 1999, is: "To narrow achievement gaps between some minority ethnic groups and to meet the particular needs of those for whom English is an additional language".

Variations

Local education authorities assess their schools' needs and devise a local formula for allocating the grant, Ofsted explained.

So the amount schools received for each pupil varied "significantly".

A "very rough calculation" gave a range from �108 to �274 in primary schools, with an average per pupil of �170, and from �24 to �266 in secondaries, with an average of �98.

Nationally the total amount available was the same this year as in the previous year - a cut in real terms.

Ofsted's chief, David Bell, concluded: "Whilst these schools have made good progress in helping minority ethnic pupils, it is important to ensure that difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified specialists and concerns over the provision of funding don't hamper other schools' attempts to build a more inclusive community."

Changes

The Department for Education and Skills said the overall fund was being increased from �155m this year to �162m in 2004-05.

Following consultation with schools and education authorities (LEAs), it would be distributed differently.

Instead of LEAs bidding for funds, the department would decide how much each should get on the basis of how many of their pupils would benefit from it.

Many would therefore get more money, though the promise was that none would get less than now.

Ofsted's reports on what works well said schools which were successful in raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils had broadly similar approaches.

They were strongly committed to an ethos that stresses high achievement, equal opportunities, the valuing of cultural diversity, the provision of a secure environment, the importance of challenging racism, the centrality of minority achievement work, and partnership with parents and the wider community.

The reports were based on visits to one nursery school, 11 primaries, 10 secondaries and one special school.