After a decade of austerity cuts, ministers have pledged to restore funding per pupil to 2010 levels by the end of the current parliament, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says the government is no longer on track to meet the target of cost pressures on schools. The IFS survey estimates that the increased costs facing schools are “almost affordable” for the next academic year due to a £4bn rise in schools’ budgets this year. It warns, however, that the government’s future spending plans are inadequate and that cuts in real terms will follow, undermining the role schools may play in its leveling ambitions. School leaders, meanwhile, say they are already struggling to balance their budgets in the face of massive increases in food, energy and wages, with many warning of deficits and more cuts to education benefits. A finance director said a secondary school in her trust had seen its electricity bill rise from £75,000 last year to £213,000. They are also worried about how they will meet teacher pay rises without additional government funding and spending that has already been cut to the bone. Julia Harden, funding expert at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “It is a very poor reflection on the Government’s priorities that it will have led to a 15-year reduction in school funding by the end of this parliament. “While it may argue that there are inflationary pressures beyond its control, the fact is that the Government itself has proposed a teacher pay award for September without providing any additional funding to schools to cope with these expenses, and has also consistently ignored our repeated warnings about the impact of rising energy costs.” The situation in post-16 education is even worse, Harnden said, citing IFS analysis from last autumn which showed college funding per pupil in 2024-25 10% below 2010-11 levels, while sixth form funding per student will be 23% lower. “It is likely that increasing cost pressures will exacerbate this desperate situation,” he said. “The government simply needs to respond by ensuring that schools and colleges have the funding they need to at least maintain provision, and if the government is serious about raising student achievement, it needs to provide the resources needed to do so this ambition is possible”. Sarah Ewins, chief executive of finance and operations at Middlesex Learning Trust, said her trust’s schools had struggled to set balanced budgets for September in the face of rapidly increasing cost pressures, including energy costs up 200% across the board alone their. to be blown away by the announcement of teacher pay on the last day of term, which added an extra £95,000 to each school’s expected salary. “We fully support paying teachers and support staff properly (especially given years of pay cuts in real terms), but we simply cannot do this without additional funding.” The Department for Education said it recognized that schools were facing increased costs due to the unprecedented rise in inflation. “To support schools, budgets will increase by £7bn by 2024-25, compared to 2021-22, with the total core school budget rising to £56.8bn. In the current financial year alone, core school funding is up by £4 billion compared to the previous financial year.’ The government’s recent white paper on schools set a target of 90% of primary pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030. Ruth Maisey, head of the education program at the Nuffield Foundation which funded the research, said: “It is important that the Government addresses the cost pressures highlighted by this IFS analysis to ensure that schools can deliver ambitions for student achievement.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Labor accused the Conservative leadership candidates of “blocking” the return of secondary schools during the election campaign, instead of committing to any real action to secure children’s education. Shadow schools minister Stephen Morgan said: “The Conservatives are failing our children with falling staff numbers, school buildings in disrepair and fewer trips, clubs and enrichment activities.” Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “School funding has stagnated for too long, failing generations of young people. It allows for buildings to be destroyed, vital personnel to be lost, and to flank or remove entire subjects. These deprivations pre-date Covid and the cost of living crisis.” Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, added: “There is no doubt that the reality of the Government’s current approach to education funding will lead to cuts in education, services and school staff next year.” Luke Sibieta, IFS researcher and author of the report, said: “The big fiscal choice for policymakers this autumn is whether or not to provide more funding to public services to offset rising costs and the significant challenges they face . It will be much harder for schools to make a meaningful contribution to smoothing aspirations when they face real terms cuts from next year onwards.” The Department of Education has been approached for comment.
