Commenting on a new report into school funding from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) today, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

"This report clearly shows the real-term freeze in funding that schools have had to cope with for over a decade.

"Despite the government’s bold claims on school funding, it is very clear that school spending per pupil will still be lower in real terms next year than it was a decade ago. This is at a time when demands on schools have been increasing. There is no escaping the fact that the schools have had and will continue to have to make cuts to provision until this is properly addressed.  Furthermore, it is those schools serving the most deprived pupils that have seen the biggest losses.

"In light of all this, talk of ‘levelling up’ starts to sound very hollow indeed.”