New analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that although there is substantial extra funding for schools budgeted for the next few years, it is not enough to close the gap in the true costs experienced by schools.
Luke Sibieta, Research Fellow at the IFS, published an article showing that
Schools funding in England is going up faster than economy-wide inflation, but not as fast as the cost pressures schools actually face… There is clearly a very large disconnect in trends over the last few years in school spending per pupil measured in the standard ways (adjusting for inflation using the GDP deflator) and when we adjust for costs faced by schools.
Sibieta, L. (2023). What is happening to school funding and costs in England? Institute for Fiscal Studies.
He goes on to make the following points:
- When policymakers claim that school spending per pupil is growing significantly in real terms and reaching a record high, this is likely to jar with schools’ actual experience.
- The situation is made worse by the timing of announcements and agreements on salaries.
You can read the article in full using the link below.
dsga.org.uk 