Ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, the Education Policy
Institute (EPI) has published a new note on school funding and
expenditure.
Bringing together the latest EPI research, the note
considers the financial health of schools, how they are spending
their money and whether more needs to be done to ensure that they
are sufficiently, equitably and efficiently funded.
Commenting on the state of school funding ahead
of the Budget, Natalie Perera, Executive Director and Head of
Research at the Education Policy Institute (EPI),
said:
“Our analysis shows that funding pressures for
schools are likely to remain for the foreseeable future, despite
additional investment announced by the
government.
“Schools will still be feeling the effects of cuts to
both school and local authority services from over the last
decade and, while the government has announced additional funding
over the next three years, the way in which that funding will be
distributed means that some schools will benefit far more than
others. Our research shows that disadvantaged schools are likely
to see only modest increases to their budgets next year while
those serving more affluent communities are likely to see the
largest gains.
“While government plans to boost starter salaries for
teachers to £30K will no doubt help to ease teacher recruitment
and retention problems, because disadvantaged schools employ more
early-career teachers, they will face greater costs when covering
these higher salaries, compared to more affluent
schools.
“A further priority for the government must be to
review the funding allocated to support those pupils with special
educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Special schools are
likely to continue to see rising pressures as demand for pupil
places grows. The education system is currently failing to
incentivise mainstream schools to keep pupils with additional
needs – this must also be addressed.”
