Analysis released today by the School Cuts coalition shows that despite additional funding announced by the Government last month, more than 80 per cent of schools in England – around 16,000 – will still have less money per pupil in 2020 in real terms than they did four years ago, when schools started to feel the impact of spending cuts.
Last month, the Government promised an extra £14 billion for schools over three years, including £700m in funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The coalition, made up of the six teaching unions, says that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised school funding would be ‘levelled up across the entire country’ and that there would be ‘no winners or losers’, but its research paints a very different picture.
Its findings show:
- The allocation to schools in 2020/21 fall £2.5bn short of what is needed to reverse cuts to funding since 2015.
- Around a third of all schools will see real-term cuts to their budgets next year because school costs are greater than inflation.
- Schools with the highest levels of deprivation are the worst affected.
- Even after the additional £700m promised by the Government for high needs, the funding block will still be £1.5bn short of what is needed to support the most vulnerable children and young people in the education system.
The School Cuts coalition is calling on the Government to honour its promise to give schools the funding they need and to reverse in full the cuts made since 2015.
The coalition is to re-launch its website with updated school-by-school figures once the Government releases next year’s funding allocations.
Comments
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said, ‘After years of denying that there is a school funding crisis the Government has finally done the right thing by investing desperately needed extra money into our beleaguered education system.
‘But analysis by the School Cuts coalition shows the additional funding is not enough to repair the damage that has been done to our schools and colleges and that further investment is required. We are not being churlish, we are just stating the facts. The funding crisis is not over.’
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary at the National Education Union, added, ‘For years, our heads, teachers and school staff have done all they can to mitigate the impact on children. But the buck stops with the Government.
‘It’s unthinkable that our schools have to go on like this – losing support staff, shedding subjects and cutting back on basic maintenance just to balance the books. We are calling on the Prime Minister to put the money where his mouth is and end the funding crisis in education once and for all.’
A Department for Education spokesperson said, 'This Government has announced the biggest funding boost for schools in a decade which will give every school more money for every child. We are investing a total of £14bn more in schools over the next three years to 2022-23.
'This means all secondary schools will receive a minimum of at least £5,000 per pupil next year while all primary schools will get a minimum of at least £4,000 from 2021-22 – with the biggest increases going to the schools that need it most. The IFS has said that this investment will restore schools’ funding to previous levels in real terms per pupil by 2022-23.'
- The analysis is available here
