An imminent round of budget cuts is putting “excellence at high risk” in Barnet schools according to a coalition of teaching staff across the borough.

The latest calculations of the National Funding Formula have told the Department for Education schools will have to make a total of £3 billion in savings in the coming years.

A letter written by representatives from 29 Barnet schools has been sent to the DfE to make clear their worries the funding changes will unfairly threaten “educational excellence” in Barnet over other areas.

In the letter, the coalition made clear their belief the department was ignorant of several “mitigating factors” in the cuts, including the need and cost for retraining and staff redundancies.

The coalition wrote: “The expected savings, as well as changes to pension and National Insurance payments, pay rises promoted by the department, and cuts to funding present significant challenges for all schools.

“For the losers under the National Funding Formula, as the majority of us we will be, these challenges will be further magnified.

“The formula will place a greater proportion of the cuts on fewer schools, increasing the problems we, in Barnet, will face.

“Your department may see this as a zero sum, in which losers are balanced out by winners.

“However, not enough attention is being paid to the effect of this change.

“As losers we will have little choice but to reduce our offer, diluting our success further than other schools, resulting in measurable reductions in quality.”

At a Barnet Council meeting last month, the Labour opposition group asked the council to oppose the cuts set to be made, warning savings would have to be made of £497 per child.

READ MORE: Labour figures warning of massive cuts to schools disputed by Conservative-controlled Barnet Council

Cllr Anne Hutton said: “This letter from schools backs up what we have been saying – the government should be levelling-up funding for schools, not robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“The figures provided in the letter are just the impact of the National Funding Formula, they don't include the financial effect of the 75 per cent cut to the Education Services Grant, the freeze in per pupil funding or the rising costs schools are facing.

“Taken together, it means many schools in Barnet are heading for a car crash in two or three years’ time.”

The Conservative-controlled council disputed the figures, saying Barnet is set to lose closer to £136 per pupil, and opted not to oppose the cuts, voting down a motion put forward by Labour.

However, leader of the council Cllr Richard Corenlius has pledged to speak Barnet’s case to the national government as the cuts draw closer.

He said: “While it is important there is an element of redistribution to make the current system of funding fairer, it would be quite wrong for Barnet schools to suffer as a result.

“For some time now, I have been lobbying City Hall and Whitehall to redress imbalances which have left Barnet with the short end of the stick in policing, NHS funding, and local government grants.

“These would be hollow victories if funding is then reduced for our schools.”

The cuts are expected to have been carried out in full by 2019, with Labour previous predicting Barnet would lose £23,181,571 in that time – the equivalent of 622 teachers.