A great deal of controversy has arisen about the ways in which schools are spending the £120 million Pupil Equity Fund (PEF). The cash was allocated to schools directly from the Scottish government for the first time last year and spent on everything from campus cops to swimming lessons.

Now, the government has published figures on how much PEF money has been spent, and by whom. 

The data shows some schools failed to spend a penny of their PEF cash last year, and that the primary school that received the biggest payout only spent a third of it.

Here are nine things we learned:

• Overall, 40 per cent of PEF money was not spent and was carried forward to the current school year, amounting to almost £50m.
• Overall, 60 per cent was spent (£70m).
• The council in which schools spent the largest chunk of their share of PEF money was East Dunbartonshire - its schools spent 82 per cent of funding they received (about £1.3m).
• The council in which schools spent the smallest proportion of their share of PEF money was Western Isles, where schools spent less than half of their funding (about £121,000).
• The primary that received the biggest PEF payout was Dalmarnock in Glasgow (£278,400).
• The secondary that received the biggest PEF payout was St Andrew’s, also in Glasgow (£354,000).
• St Andrew’s Secondary spent 66 per cent of its allocation last year; Dalmarnock Primary spent 33 per cent.
• Some schools spent none of their PEF allocation last year, including Bilston Primary in Midlothian and Kingussie High in Highland.
• Other schools spent more than they received, including Dalkeith High in Midlothian (about £4,000 more) and Dunblane High in Stirling Council (£1,600 more).

The director of education in Glasgow and the president of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Maureen McKenna, said it was “perfectly reasonable” that schools had not spent all the money they received. Schools had to consult with pupils and parents, she pointed out, and while they received the money at the start of the financial year, the biggest investment they made was in staff who they often could not start employing until August.

She added: “Schools and local authorities want every penny to count so they were careful and cautious in the first year. If we had had more time for planning and recruiting, then we would have been better able to spend the money.”

She predicted a “small” carry-over next year and a “very limited” carry-over in year three.

A review published earlier this year of the first two years of the Attainment Scotland Fund - of which the Pupil Equity Fund is a part - found a “significant challenge” for local authorities and schools was the recruitment of staff.

It said: “This put extra pressure on schools and impacted negatively on the success of planned interventions, leading to frustration and underspend.”