NEWS: School cuts data reveals 70% real-term cuts

As reported by ASCL, new data from the School Cuts website, released today, highlights how government funding decisions have led to significant real-term cuts in 70% of maintained schools in England since 2010/11, sparking urgent calls for action from education unions and associations ahead of the upcoming budget statement on March 6th

This includes 66% of maintained primary schools and 88% of maintained secondary schools.Ahead of the budget statement on 6 March, the organisations behind the School Cuts website are collectively calling for urgent action to reverse the cuts that schools have faced since 2010. After fourteen years of cuts, at least £12.2 billion (1) is needed to restore school spending power to 2010 levels, repair crumbling school buildings and tackle the crisis in SEND funding.

The School Cuts website was established in 2016. The website shows the impact of Government funding decisions on every mainstream school in England. The website, and ensuing campaigns, has proved highly effective at highlighting the plight of schools beset by years of underfunding, resulting in an extra £21bn of investment in schools.

Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

“The effects of fourteen years of austerity imposed by this Conservative government are clear for all to see. We have the largest class sizes in Europe. In September, children in more than 100 schools couldn’t start school on time because ceilings were falling in and posing a risk to their lives. And this year, yet again, the Government has failed to hit its teacher training recruitment targets for almost all secondary subjects. This neglect of education services has failed an entire generation of children; the Government must not fail another. We need to see substantial investment at the upcoming Spring Budget.”

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“The School Cuts website lays bare the impact of the government’s underfunding of schools. The reality is that there are school and college leaders across the country, working from buildings that are no longer fit for purpose and being forced to calculate what extra cuts they are going to have to make in order to balance their budgets. The government must make education a priority at the Spring Budget, giving schools and colleges the investment they urgently need while addressing the worsening condition of buildings and the growing crisis in special educational needs funding.”

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“The Prime Minister pledged to make education his main funding priority in every spending review at the last Conservative Party Conference, but there was no sign of this happening in the subsequent Autumn Statement. Many schools are struggling to finance the basics, let alone to deal with crumbling buildings and support the growing numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities. It is imperative that this Spring Budget brings an end to more than a decade of under-investment in schools and real-terms funding cuts. We need to see a sustained commitment from the government to ensure all schools are equipped with the resources they need to offer all pupils a fulfilling and safe education.”