I wanted to update you on the latest in school funding, which I know continues to be a matter raised by constituents.
More money for High Needs and SEND
Largest pay rise for teachers in almost ten years
UK state school spending high among G7 countries
Supporting schools with cost pressures
UKSA verdict of “misleading” schoolcuts.org
Overall funding picture
The core schools and high needs budget will rise to a record £43.5bn next year. Analysis from the IFS shows that next year real terms per-pupil funding will be more than 50% higher than it was in 2000 for five to 16 year olds. 94% of academy trusts and 90% of maintained schools are operating with a cumulative surplus or breaking even, with a total of £4 billion of cumulative surpluses in the system compared to £300 million of cumulative deficits.
UK spending is also high by international standards, as the 2018 edition of the OECD’s ‘Education at a Glance’ shows. For example:
In 2015 (the latest year for which the analysis is available), the UK spent as much, per pupil, on primary and secondary state school education as any country in the G7, apart from the United States.
Among G7 countries, the UK spent the highest percentage of GDP on institutions delivering primary and secondary education in 2015 (3.8%), and we were above both the OECD and EU22 averages (3.2% and 3.0% respectively).
As well as the significant investment we are making in the schools system, we have taken on the historic challenge of introducing a fair national funding formula, to ensure that resources go where they are needed most – not based on accidents of geography or history.
In December, we published local authorities’ funding allocations for 2019-20, which allocated at least 1% more funding per pupil compared to 2017-18, and up to 6% for the most underfunded schools. Local authorities will continue to use this funding to set schools’ budgets, in consultation with schools, to reflect local circumstances.
Recent announcements
Recent announcements have demonstrated our continued commitment to ensuring schools have the investment they need:
a) Teachers’ pay grant: in addition to the money schools are receiving through the national funding formula, we are providing £508 million over two years to help schools with the cost of a teachers’ pay rise (the largest in almost ten years) – the difference between the 1% increase schools would have been budgeting for, and the higher award the department accepted (3.5% main pay range, 2% upper range and 1.5% leadership range).
b) Teachers’ pensions: additionally, we propose to cover, in full, for state schools and FE providers who are obliged to offer the Teachers’ Pension Scheme the increased costs of pension contributions, which underpin one of the most generous pension schemes in the country – an important part of the remuneration package for teachers.
c) Capital funding: at Budget the Chancellor announced an additional £400 million this year for capital projects in schools and other eligible institutions. We will announce final allocations for individual schools by the end of this month.
d) High needs: last month, we announced a further £250 million funding for high needs over this year and the next, recognising the particular concerns that have been raised about the costs of making provision for children and young people with the most complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We also announced an additional £100 million to provide the specialist facilities that children and young people with SEND need, bringing the total investment of capital funding to £365 million between 2018 and 2021. We know that the additional funding, on its own, is not the only solution, which is why at the same time we announced:
funding for more Educational Psychologists to help keep up with demand for this specialist advice;
commissioning ‘SEN Futures’, a flagship package of long-term research to provide evidence on the impact of current provision;
next steps to establish a new SEND System Leadership Board focused on improving joint commissioning;
an evidence-gathering exercise on the financial incentives in current arrangements, in particular on the operation and use of mainstream schools’ notional SEN budget, which pays for the costs of SEND up to £6,000;
reviewing current SEND content in Initial Teacher Training provision and building on our existing SEND specialist qualifications.
Supporting schools with cost pressures
We do, of course, recognise that there are pressures on school budgets, and schools rightly will always want to do more for their pupils. As well as continuing to
ensure that we invest properly in our schools, it is as important how that funding is used in practice, so that schools can direct the maximum resource into what they do best – teaching. That is why our Supporting Excellent School Resource Management strategy is working with the sector to help schools reduce costs and make the most of every pound. This includes:
having delivered a new national deal on supply staff to help schools reduce costs in hiring agency supply teachers and temporary staff;
rolling out a free-to-use Teacher Vacancy Service to help schools recruit effectively and cut recruitment costs;
providing deals to help schools save money on things they buy regularly, like energy and IT equipment;
providing hands-on support through School Resource Management Advisers, who work with those schools that will benefit the most, providing expert advice on resource management.
Misleading claims from the ‘School Cuts’ campaign
The United Kingdom Statistics Authority (UKSA) have criticised this campaign’s use of statistics in a letter, published here, which says that figures on the ‘School Cuts’ website risk giving a misleading impression of future changes in school budgets, and of the scale of change in funding since 2015-16 for some particular schools. In case it is helpful for correspondence with constituents, I have attached a short summary of the issues in their methodology and presentation of school funding figures.
It is important that all those engaged in the public discourse on school funding ensure that the figures they present are stated as clearly and accurately as possible, and that the communication of statistics meets the highest standards. My response to the UKSA in October last year reaffirmed my commitment to those standards; it is important that others aspire to the same standards of data integrity.
Key achievements
It is also worth taking stock of the progress being made in our education system, thanks to the outstanding work of education professionals across the country. Whilst Labour want to talk education in this country down, we are working to deliver a world-class education to every child, whatever their background. To name a few achievements:
1.9 million more children are in good or outstanding schools – with 86% of schools now judged to this standard, compared to 68% in 2010;
there are now 163,000 more 6-year-olds are on track to become fluent readers compared to 2012, when the phonics screening check was introduced;
the gap between disadvantaged pupils and others at key stage 2, measured using the disadvantage gap index, has narrowed by 13% since 2011;
the proportion of young people achieving A*-C/9-4 grades in GCSE English and maths by age 19 is at record level;
over 700,000 2 year olds have benefited from funded early education since the offer began;
we have 10,000 more teachers in our schools than in 2010;
we are on track to create a million new places this decade, the biggest expansion for at least two generations.
There is much to be proud of but, of course, the job is not finished. We will continue to do more so that every child, in every classroom, in every part of the country has the chance to thrive at school.
I hope you find this update helpful and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact David Morris: david.morris.mp@parliament.uk.
'SCHOOL CUTS' Fact Sheet
Who are they?
‘School Cuts’ is a joint union campaign focusing on the funding going into schools. Its website allows you to look up any school and see the ‘cuts’ that the campaign claim will be made to that school’s budget. It has publicised its claims through the media, by writing to MPs, and providing banners to schools.
Where can I find information about school funding?
The government publishes the funding that schools attract through the national funding formula. This shows that, between 2017-18 and 2019-20, the government is providing at least a 1% funding increase in respect of every pupil in every school. Local authorities ultimately set schools’ budgets using this funding, which may vary
from the government’s allocations to reflect local circumstances. Schools also receive other targeted grants, such as the pupil premium and teachers’ pay grant.
What’s wrong with the campaign’s school funding figures?
The campaign has been forced to row back on some of its claims before – for example, when they said that per-pupil funding has reduced in real terms in 2018-19 they had to admit that they simply got their numbers wrong. Now, the UKSA has criticised their methodology and presentation of statistics. The campaign has misrepresented funding in schools in a number of ways:
1. It fails to account properly for the fact that pupil numbers have risen. It calculates ‘cuts’ from 2015-16 by using more recent pupil numbers, thereby inflating the starting point. For schools which have grown in number, the total real terms ‘loss’ presented does not account for the fact the school previously had fewer pupils to
educate. More pupils bring more money in to schools – and as pupil numbers continue to rise, this will bring further increases in funding in many areas. This can be the difference between a negative a positive figure for an individual school.
2. It does not reflect the situation in schools today. It is based on a flawed calculation that starts from the position of school budgets in 2015-16, and then calculates the cost pressures on school budgets over 4 years. This does not acknowledge that most of these pressures have already been absorbed by schools, presenting them
as still to come.
3. It conflates funding for schools in England and in Wales. However, education is devolved in Wales, and England and Wales have very different systems for funding education. The IFS has published figures showing that spending in England on schools, including sixth forms and local authority expenditure, is £100 more per pupil (aged 3-18) than in Wales.