Extra funding for schools
In the light of the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, our latest survey revealed what parents think extra funding for schools should be spent on.
More than half (55%) of parents now agree that pressures on school budgets are negatively impacting on their child's education, and this figure is an increase on both 2018 and 2019 findings (the question was not asked in 2020).
Families eligible for free
school meals (34% versus 12%) and with a child with SEND (37% versus 10%) were much more likely than other parents to report a significant negative impact, showing that the most disadvantaged families or those needing the most additional support have disproportionately felt the impact of squeezed school budgets.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged £1.8 billion of extra education recovery funding across the next few years to make up for the disruption to children's education caused by the pandemic, as well as an extra £4.7 billion of school funding by 2024-25.
We welcome this news, but our research reveals that parents already view additional funding as urgent.
When it comes to what more funds should be spent on, parents have clear priorities.
Selecting up to five options, the most popular was learning resources such as text books and science equipment (chosen by 47%).
More than two in five (41%) selected child mental health services, reflecting parents' growing concern about the impact of the pandemic and the education system on their child's mental health and wellbeing.
The next preferred choice (41%) was IT equipment.
Beyond the top three, parents want to see more spending on extracurricular resources such as school trips, sports facilities and outdoor learning spaces.
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