System of funding for schools under fire

Funding changes for schools serving disadvantaged communities will work against the Government's stated goal of levelling up poorer areas of the country, experts have warned.

Cuts to education spending in England over the past decade are "effectively without precedent in post-war history",accordingtoInstitutefor Fiscal Studies (IFS) researchers–withsecondaryschoolsin lesswelloffareasexperiencing a 14% real-terms fall in spending per pupil between 2009 and 2019.

That,itsays,compareswith aninepercentdropforschools in better off areas.

TheIFSreportoneducation spending suggests that spending per pupil in 2024 will be at aboutthesamelevelasin2010.

Thereportconcludes:"This squeeze on school resources is effectively without precedent in post-war UK history."

Luke Sibieta, IFS research fellow, said: "Extra funding in the spending review will reverse cuts to school spending per pupil, but will mean 15 years without any overall growth.

"Recent funding changes have also worked against schoolsservingdisadvantaged communities. This will make it that much harder to achieve ambitious goals to level up poorerareasofthecountryand narrow educational inequalities, which were gaping even before the pandemic."

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "This analysis provides a grim indictment of the Government'srecordoneducation spendingoverthecourseofthe past decade.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We have made above-inflation increasesinschoolfundingevery year since 2019/20.”