Bay of Plenty schools face a nervous wait as the Ministry of Education rolls out its recalculated decile rating changes which could impact on future budgets.

For the next 10 days the Ministry of Education is contacting schools nationwide to let them know the outcome of the latest recalculated ratings.

The region's schools are waiting to find out if their decile rating has changed. Photo: File.

The Ministry of Education re-evaluates the ratings after each census, ensuring they accurately reflect the latest information on school communities.

'This is about fairness,” says the Ministry's Deputy Secretary for student achievement Graham Stoop. 'We want to ensure extra funding goes to support those students who need it most.”

A decile of one indicates the school draws from a poor area, while a decile of 10 confirms the opposite. Schools that move to a lower rating will have an increase in funding, while those increasing will see a reduction over an 18-month period.

The Ministry has revealed about a third of 2406 schools will be better off, while another third will have to tighten their belts and the remainder will be unaffected.

A total of 800 schools have moved to a lower decile rating, while 784 schools have moved up. For another 822 schools, there has been no change.

'Ten days seems an extraordinary amount of time when they know it all now.”

Graham says for most schools the changes in funding will be a small percentage of their operational grant.

Any reduction in funding will be an adjustment over an 18-month transition period for any schools with a reduction in funding while funding increases take effect in January 2015.

'We will be working closely with schools to give them any support they need to adjust to changes,” he explains.

'It's important to remember a school's decile rating does not reflect the quality of education a school provides. The quality of teaching and leadership at a school are the most important factors in lifting student achievement.”

Any school which believes its rating doesn't accurately reflect the socio-economic circumstances of its students can appeal.