Needs-based funding (also sometimes referred to as ‘input funding’; see Meijer, 1999) is when the funding is based, for example, on the identified need of each of the destination levels, such as the number of learners with special needs in a school, municipality or region. Inputs may also be defined in terms of referral rates, low achievement scores, the number of disadvantaged learners and so on. The key point is that funding is based on the (expressed or measured) needs (European Agency, 2018d).