Commenting as the National Audit Office (NAO) today (Friday 2^nd July 2021) publishes a new report looking at school funding, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“This new report from the NAO shows that despite all the spin from government, school funding has effectively remained static since 2014-15. The truth is that, even if these were normal times, schools are still funded inadequately.

“Right now schools face ever-increasing cost pressures as they implement new government policies. And as the NAO rightly identifies, the government has utterly failed to take account of the impact of new cost pressures created by COVID-19.

“The government’s current funding plans are simply insufficient, and the stark reality is that many schools are likely to be forced to make continued cuts at a time when we should be investing heavily in children’s education.

“Time and again government has failed to deliver the funds that schools need for the nation’s young people at this crucial time – the government’s own Covid education recovery advisor resigned, making clear that ten times more funding was needed than government announced.

“The NAO is also right to raise serious questions about the effect of the minimum per-pupil funding arrangement – it is deeply concerning that so many of the most deprived schools have seen a real-terms decrease in per-pupil funding over the last three years. This government has claimed that it believes in ‘levelling up’ opportunities, yet its approach to school funding tells a very different story.

“As the government moves towards its next spending review, it is essential that it prioritises education and invests properly in children and young pupil.”