Spending per pupil ‘will fall if Tories win’

SCHOOL spending per pupil looks set to fall by 7 per cent despite a Conservative pledge to increase the education budget if the party wins the general election.

Spending would increase if either Labour or the Liberal Democrats win power, according to the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies.

In a new paper examining each of the main political parties’ proposals for education spending, the IFS calculated that school budgets in England could face a realterms cut of almost 3 per cent by 2021-22 if the Tories win the election. This rises to 7 per cent by 2021-22.

Labour’s plans would leave spending per pupil 6 per cent higher in real terms over the same five-year period – 201718 to 2021-22. The IFS – which today publishes a wide appraisal of all the manifestos – said the Lib Dems’ plans would protect per-pupil spending in real terms at the 2017-18 level.

It comes amid continued concerns from school leaders, teachers and parents about a growing squeeze on school budgets.

The Conservative manifesto said: “We will increase the overall schools budget by £4billion by 2022, representing more than a realterms increase for every year of the parliament.”

Labour has pledged to reverse real-terms cuts since 2015 and protect per-pupil spending in real terms over the next parliament.

Luke Sibieta, IFS associate director, said: “The commitments made by each of the main parties would imply quite different paths for school spending.”