A research study has found Rutland County Council has the lowest educational spend per pupil in the country.

But authority bosses say the figure is actually much higher.

Research from Education Technology company Promethean, which analysed government spending data for 2014-15 and 2019-20, found the council spent £1,489 each for its 7,980 pupils – a total of £11,881,000.

This was followed by Bromley (£1,599 per pupil) and Kingston Upon Hull (£1,666 per pupil).

The five highest education spending authorities were all in London, but Islington topped the chart with £8,105 per each of its 25,581 pupils – a whole 137% difference.

And according to the figures from the research company, Lincolnshire had a spend of £3,064 per pupil, spread across 111,007 students for a total of £340,082,000.

However, Rutland Council has since reviewed the information and rejected the claim.

It says the 7,980 pupils quoted includes 2,140 pupils from independent schools, which are not state-funded, and another 283 pupils from a Free School.

Taking these numbers into account, the number of pupils for 2019/20 in Rutland is actually 5,557.

Rutland Council told Nub News: "The figure of £11,881,000 is taken from the Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing Return. This does not include £21,668,936 of funding distributed to academies within Rutland in 2019/20.

"Under Section 251 of the Schools Standards and Framework Act the County Council submits statements of education spending in a prescribed format to the Department for Education for both budget and outturn.

"These are published on the Rutland County Council website and illustrate the amount of money spent on education in Rutland."

The council added: "For the year 2021/22, Rutland has been allocated £34,237,128 Designated Schools Grant for Schools, Early Years, High Needs and Central Services."