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'A lost decade’ – the 14-year education funding freeze

School funding and finance Government policy
Schools funding in 2024 will return, in real-terms, to levels last seen in 2010, meaning there has been no real-terms growth in 14 years.

Critics say this 14-year funding freeze is an indictment of the government’s commitment to education, going as far as to label the 2010s “a lost decade”.

The figures are set out in the 2022 annual education report of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (Drayton et al, 2022), which says that the additional £2.3bn announced in the Autumn Statement means schools are “in a better position” to meet increasing costs including rises in teacher and support staff salaries, energy bills, and food costs.

However, the report sounds an alert over the precarious funding situation for further education colleges and sixth forms, which are someway off being returned to 2010 levels in real terms.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said this week that the funding for colleges and sixth forms remained ”woefully inadequate” and had resulted in “cuts to curriculum options and student support services”.


School funding

After a 9% real-terms fall in school funding between 2010 and 2019, the report confirms that recent investment means the government has finally come good on its recent pledge to return school funding to 2010 levels in real-terms. However, it is hardly complementary.

It states: “We estimate that school spending per-pupil will grow in real-terms through to 2024 and will return to at least 2010 levels, even after accounting for the specific costs faced by schools.

“The additional £2.3bn … puts schools in a better position to meet the cost of increases in teacher salaries (over 5% this year), support staff salaries (8–9%), and rapid rises in energy and food costs.

“However, no net growth in school spending per pupil over a 14-year period still represents a significant squeeze on school resources.”

Geoff Barton, ASCL general secretary, agrees, pointing out that a 14-year freeze “does not show a government that is ambitious for the future of children and young people”.

The report estimates that secondary school spending per-pupil in England in 2022/23 is due to be about £6,900, which is 14% higher than in primary schools (£6,100).

The report also forecasts that the school pupil population is expected to decline by 700,000 (9%) between 2024/25 and 2030/31. However, it adds: “Declining pupil numbers will only reduce spending needs if schools are able to shrink their costs and staff numbers in equal measure.”

Luke Sibieta, IFS research fellow and co-author of the report, said that school funding is heading back to levels matching its “high point in 2010”. However, he added that “no growth in spending per-pupil over a 14-year period is still a significant squeeze in historical terms”.


Colleges and sixth forms

The IFS report is the starkest in its laying bare of the funding situation for post-16 education.

It confirms the struggles the sector has faced: “Between 2010/11 and 2019/20, spending per-student aged 16 to 18 fell by 14% in real terms in colleges and by 28% in school sixth forms. For colleges, this left spending per-student at around the level it was in 2004/5, while spending per-student in sixth forms was lower than at any point since at least 2002.”

Despite recent government investment, spending levels in colleges per-pupil in 2024 will be 5% below 2010 levels in real-terms, while school sixth-form spending will be 22% down. This at a time when the number of students aged 16 to 18 is expected to rise by 10% between 2021 and 2024 – a total of 100,000 extra students by 2024.

The report adds: “Further education colleges and sixth forms are in a particularly difficult position at present. They saw larger cuts than other areas of education after 2010 and there was no extra funding announced in the Autumn Statement to help colleges and sixth forms cope with larger-than-expected cost increases.

“Based on existing budgets, college staff have only been offered a pay rise of 2.5% for this year, well below the 5% offered to teachers; this could exacerbate recruitment and retention difficulties in colleges.

“The number of 16- to 18-year-olds is projected to rise by 18% between 2021 and 2030, which would make for 200,000 extra students by 2030. This comes at a time when the government has scaled back departmental spending plans after 2024.”

Mr Sibieta added: “Colleges and sixth forms are in a much worse position. They saw bigger cuts in the last decade, which are only being partially reversed. Unlike schools, they received no additional funding in the Autumn Statement for higher-than-expected costs and will need to accommodate an extra 200,000 students by 2030.”

The National Education Union said the state of education funding was “pitiful”. General secretary Dr Mary Bousted added:“The IFS notes that the 2010s were a lost decade with schools funding falling by 9% in real terms. While the situation has improved since, real-terms (overall) education funding will still be below 2009/10 levels in 2024/25.

“It is amazing how far our expectations have been lowered over the past 15 years to see this as in any way acceptable. It is a symptom of failure from a failed government.”

Back at ASCL, Mr Barton said that college and sixth forms had been “neglected”. He continued: “The government’s investment in colleges and sixth forms has been woefully inadequate resulting in cuts to curriculum options and student support services. This financial squeeze and the effect on young people at a crucial point in their lives is the very opposite of levelling up.

“It will be impossible to sustain educational standards, let alone improve them, without making investment in education far more of a priority.”