New data released today (Saturday) on the updated School Cuts website shows that government funding decisions have resulted in 70% of maintained schools in England facing real-terms cuts since 2010/11. This includes 66% of maintained primary schools and 88% of maintained secondary schools. 

The School Cuts website is run by education unions National Education Union, Association of School and College Leaders and National Association of Head Teachers, and supported by Parentkind and National Governance Association.   

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. 

Click for the Schoolcuts website

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 government to ensure all schools are equipped with the resources they need to offer all pupils a fulfilling and safe education.”

Sam Henson, Deputy Chief Executive, National Governance Association, said:

“Our members governing in all settings, from MATs to maintained schools, are telling us that balancing the budget is their biggest governance challenge. The growing difficulty in keeping their schools and trusts financially sustainable, and the impossible choices often required to do so, is causing volunteers huge stress and worry. Substantial investment is needed to protect high-quality education, and meet the needs of vulnerable pupils.”

Editor's Note   

Our terminology of ‘mainstream school’ includes all state funded schools. It does not include nursery schools, special schools, pupil referral units, alternative provision (AP), sixth form colleges, further education colleges, and hospital schools.  

Whilst this analysis is based on mainstream schools, many non-mainstream schools are facing an even tighter financial squeeze due to the nature of their staffing structure and we therefore urge Government to pay particularly close attention to their funding in 2024/25.   

(1) The £12.2bn accounts for £3.2bn for the core schools budget to increase school spending power back to 2010/11 levels in real terms, an extra £4.4bn capital investment to take total spending per year on school to £7bn as recommended by the Office for Government Property, plus £4.6bn a year  to prevent the crisis in SEND support from getting any worse (as has been recommended by the f40 group).