Thirteen national education associations have written an open
letter to Conservative MPs this weekend, imploring them to keep
the school funding crisis at the forefront of their minds as they
vote for the next Prime Minister.
The letter reminds Conservative MPs of their manifesto commitment
to restore real-terms funding for schools to 2010 levels but
notes that current forecasts predict a £2bn shortfall by 2024.
It says: “We urge you to stand behind your party’s 2019 manifesto
commitment by seeking the assurance of leadership candidates to
deliver on your pledge to restore school and college funding to
2010-levels, should they become leader.”
Fresh analysis by the organisations reveals that:
- an average primary school will be facing
a £35-45k shortfall by September 2024,
equating to two support staff or one
teacher
- an average secondary school will be facing
a £200-250k shortfall by 2024, which
would equate to around four to five
teachers.
MPs are warned that these cuts will impact schools in their own
constituencies.
The letter continues: “A funding shortfall of this scale cannot
be absorbed by schools and colleges without severely impacting
the quality of education. Put simply, they will not be able to
afford to continue to provide the education that pupils and
students deserve.”
The School Cuts
website will be relaunched in coming weeks, which will
enable parents to see the likely impact of the financial crisis
in their child’s own school.
The letter also draws attention to the worrying state of repair
of schools up and down the country, stating: “There are now parts
of the school estate that are in a dangerous state of repair. The
rate of school rebuilding means buildings are expected to last
for 400 years, raising significant safety concerns. Not only is
capital investment in the school estate good for children it is
good for the economy and can help the country return to growth”.
Conservative MPs are being urged to consider the impact of
underfunding of schools and colleges on the life chances of
children and young people, and to ask prospective candidates for
leadership to commit to deliver on the 2019 manifesto commitment
to return funding in real-terms to 2010 levels.
The letter ends: “Education has felt as if it is on the margins
of political priorities. That must change. During the pandemic,
our young people made enormous sacrifices to protect others. They
will not forgive us if their life chances are further
diminished.”
Letter in full: Joint-education-letter-to-MPs-22-October-2022-final.pdf
Ends
Notes to editors:
The thirteen education organisations who have signed the letter
are: School leaders' union NAHT, the Confederation of School
Trusts, the National Governance Association (NGA), Parentkind,
the Association of Colleges, the Association of School and
College Leaders (ASCL), NASUWT the teachers' union, the National
Education Union (NEU), the Sixth Form Colleges Association,
UNISON, Unite, GMB, and Community.
On school funding shortfall:
School funding per pupil in England fell in real terms by 9%
between 2010 and 2019. (source IFS). By the end of
this parliament in 2024-25, school funding will still be 3% lower
in real terms than in 2010 because of rising costs, which equates
in cash terms to around £2bn.
FE college funding in 2024-25 will still be 10% below 2010 and
sixth form funding 23% below 2010.
On school rebuilding programme:
The government has announced that they are rebuilding around 50
schools a year for the next decade (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/second-round-of-prime-ministers-school-rebuilding-programme-launched.
Yet with over 22,000 schools in the country, it will take over
440 years to rebuild all schools. Some are in desperate state of
repair and there have been numerous warnings, particularly in
relation to those with RAAC roofs:
There are around 2000 schools built between the mid-60s and
mid-80s with RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) roofs.
These roofs are prone to sudden collapse: https://www.survey-solutions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/scoss-alert-failure-of-raac-planks.pdf
We see examples of partial roof collapses with worrying
regularity. The independent primary school in Dulwich that
partially collapsed injuring 13 pupils was an example of what
happens: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/dulwich-thurlow-park-road-children-injured-after-school-ceiling-collapses-b966246.html?amp
And there are examples going further back: https://www.cross-safety.org/uk/safety-information/cross-safety-alert/failure-reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-planks
