The issue

There has been 15 years with no overall growth in school spending. This squeeze on school resources is effectively without precedent in post-war UK history.
Schools are now facing new and significant cost pressures e.g. surging energy prices, covid-related costs, falling primary pupil numbers, the National Insurance increase, and pressures due to significant underfunding of SEND.
Changes to the government’s national funding formula (NFF) have seen a redistribution of funding away from schools serving the most deprived communities in recent years.
Funding for pupils with special educational needs (SEND) is in crisis, with overall High Needs budget deficits estimated to be more than £2billion and growing
The value of pupil premium funding designed to support the most disadvantaged pupils has fallen in real-terms since 2015.
The government has only invested a small fraction of the covid recovery funding that its own recovery commissioner said would be required.
Between 2009-10 and 2021-22, capital spending declined by 25% in cash terms, and 29% when adjusted for inflation.
Specific types of schools including small schools and maintained nursery schools remain under extreme financial pressure and many of facing the real risk of closure.

What we want to see

The government needs to be more ambitious for schools and set out a proper funding plan that addresses the 15 funding squeeze.
The government needs to offer more support for schools experiencing severe financial pressures as a result of rising energy costs.
The government should set out a proper long-term capital funding plan to bring all schools up to ‘good’ condition.
The government should commit to a truly ambitious recovery plan based on the work of its own recovery commissioner.
The government should commit to at least restoring pupil premium funding in real-term terms, and increasing the Early Years Pupil Premium to reach parity with the primary pupil premium.
A consultation on the long-term future of the approach to maintained nursery school funding should be launched without delay.
The government must use the ling-awaited SEND review to develop a truly needs-led approach to SEND funding.
Sufficient and sustainable funding for small schools.

What we want you to do

Convene an MPs roundtable in your region (see our briefing document on how here)
Write to your MP using our template letter
Share the PowerPoint and other resources (see below) with your school leader networks and governing body
Let us know when you plan to run local campaign activity so that we can help you promote the event and support you
Promote your campaigning work across Twitter using the campaign hashtags (#) and including @NAHTnews
Get active in your NAHT branch
If your colleagues aren’t members of NAHT already, encourage them to join

Our conference motion

“Conference instructs National Executive to develop a national fair funding campaign to press government to provide a sufficient overall level of funding to meet the needs of all pupils, through the national funding formula and the high needs national funding formula. This is required now to enable schools to set budgets from 2022-2023. It would allow them to meet all their statutory responsibilities and provide an extended curriculum offer that supports all children and young people to thrive academically, socially, physically and spiritually.

Conference further instructs National Executive to campaign for an increase in capital funding that will address the nation’s decrepit school estate, to ensure that school buildings and grounds are safe, fit for purpose and appropriate for the needs of the 21st century.”

Useful links

MP roundtable resources

Relevant articles and reports

The gender pay gap in school leadership

As we mark International Women’s Day 2025, we’re launching our latest findings into the gender pay gap in education.

As a school leaders’ union, we have a responsibility to advocate for fair pay, challenge systemic inequalities and support our members in securing the recognition and remuneration they have earned. To effectively promote equality in our classrooms, we must reflect those values within our school structures.

What does the picture look like in England?

All data is taken from the School workforce in England statistics.

What is NAHT calling for?

NAHT believes more work needs to be done to tackle the gender pay gap (the difference between the average pay rate for men and the average pay rate for women) in education, in line with the original recommendations of our Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Education: A leadership imperative report.

This includes a series of calls on the government, including:

To review the equality implications of the current pay system, including the immediate removal of performance-related pay
To renew or replace the EDI Hub funding, discontinued by the government in 2020
To provide greater support to help mitigate the systemic barriers to flexible working for all roles, including encouraging better sharing of caring responsibilities, eg paternal leave
To improve their data monitoring to allow monitoring of other pay gaps, for example ethnicity or disability.

Our work to tackle the gender pay gap in education forms part of our broader policy and campaigning work on our members’ pay. Read more about our work on pay.

NAHT’s Women’s network

In November 2024, NAHT launched our Women’s Network to shape the union's work in tackling the exact same injustices displayed here. If you would like to get involved in our work to tackle the gender inequality, please join our Women’s Network.

Our report Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Education: A leadership imperative

In 2021, NAHT in partnership with ASCL, NGA and WomenEd, released a new report exploring the gender pay gap in the English education system.

The report, Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Education: A leadership imperative, was intended to inform debate and highlight areas where action may be needed to ensure that women leaders and educators are valued appropriately and equitably for the work that they do.

Each year since the report’s release, we use the Department for Education’s school workforce statistics to update our analysis, to see if there have been any changes and/or improvements.

Download the 2021 report in full.

Read our press release on the 2021 report here.

First published 07 March 2025