Commenting on new analysis of education funding by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) published today (Tues 25 Oct), Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said:

"On current spending plans, education funding is expected to be around two billion pounds less in real terms by September 2024 than it was in 2010. Funding shortfalls of this scale cannot be absorbed by schools without severely impacting quality of education.

"Continued under-funding, alongside spiralling energy bills, inflationary costs, and an unfunded teachers’ pay award means more than 90% of schools are predicting going into deficit next year. School leaders are being forced to make impossible choices on what  to cut.

"As the government considers further public sector cuts in the October statement, we implore the new Prime Minister to view education not as a drain on the nation's finances, but as an investment in our collective future."