Neil O'Brien

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The apprenticeships budget in England is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in apprenticeship levy and non-levy paying employers, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training and any additional payments made to employers and providers.

The table below shows spend on Level 7 apprenticeships, by both levy-paying and non-levy paying employers in England, and total spend on the apprenticeship programme.

Spend is rounded to the nearest million and proportions to the nearest whole number.

This government’s reformed growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers, aligned with our industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as in construction, digital and green skills.

As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people.

The department does not publish estimates of the number of future apprenticeship starts. The new government has inherited a context of a declining number of apprenticeship starts. Following reforms to apprenticeships, including the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017, apprenticeship starts by young people under 25 fell by 38% between the 2015/16 and 2022/23 academic years, with an overall decline in starts of 34%. Apprenticeship starts figures are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.

The department is in the process of designing the growth and skills offer and it will set out more detail in due course.

This government’s reformed growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers, aligned with our industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as in construction, digital and green skills.

As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people.

The department does not publish estimates of the number of future apprenticeship starts. The new government has inherited a context of a declining number of apprenticeship starts. Following reforms to apprenticeships, including the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017, apprenticeship starts by young people under 25 fell by 38% between the 2015/16 and 2022/23 academic years, with an overall decline in starts of 34%. Apprenticeship starts figures are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.

The department is in the process of designing the growth and skills offer and it will set out more detail in due course.

HM Treasury (HMT) is responsible for VAT policy. HMT has published its assessment of the impacts of removing the VAT exemption that applied to private school fees, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/ac8c20ce-4824-462d-b206-26a567724643#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.

This overall assessment considers but does not provide a breakdown of impacts by region or pupil characteristics, including special educational needs and age. The government predicts that, in the long-run steady state, there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private sector in the UK as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. This movement is expected to take place over several years. Of this number, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector in England to steadily increase to a peak of around £300 million per annum after several years.

The impact on individual local authorities will interact with other pressures and vary. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide full-time education for all children of statutory school age in their area, suitable for their age, aptitude, ability and any special educational needs and/or disabilities.

The department works with local authorities to help them fulfil their duty to secure school places. Requirements for state-funded places for children that would have attended a private school will be addressed in each local authority through normal processes.

HM Treasury (HMT) is responsible for VAT policy. HMT has published its assessment of the impacts of removing the VAT exemption that applied to private school fees, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/ac8c20ce-4824-462d-b206-26a567724643#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.

This overall assessment considers but does not provide a breakdown of impacts by region or pupil characteristics, including special educational needs and age. The government predicts that, in the long-run steady state, there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private sector in the UK as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. This movement is expected to take place over several years. Of this number, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector in England to steadily increase to a peak of around £300 million per annum after several years.

The impact on individual local authorities will interact with other pressures and vary. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide full-time education for all children of statutory school age in their area, suitable for their age, aptitude, ability and any special educational needs and/or disabilities.

The department works with local authorities to help them fulfil their duty to secure school places. Requirements for state-funded places for children that would have attended a private school will be addressed in each local authority through normal processes.

HM Treasury (HMT) is responsible for VAT policy. HMT has published its assessment of the impacts of removing the VAT exemption that applied to private school fees, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/ac8c20ce-4824-462d-b206-26a567724643#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.

This overall assessment considers but does not provide a breakdown of impacts by region or pupil characteristics, including special educational needs and age. The government predicts that, in the long-run steady state, there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private sector in the UK as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. This movement is expected to take place over several years. Of this number, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector in England to steadily increase to a peak of around £300 million per annum after several years.

The impact on individual local authorities will interact with other pressures and vary. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide full-time education for all children of statutory school age in their area, suitable for their age, aptitude, ability and any special educational needs and/or disabilities.

The department works with local authorities to help them fulfil their duty to secure school places. Requirements for state-funded places for children that would have attended a private school will be addressed in each local authority through normal processes.

HM Treasury (HMT) is responsible for VAT policy. HMT has published its assessment of the impacts of removing the VAT exemption that applied to private school fees, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/ac8c20ce-4824-462d-b206-26a567724643#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.

This overall assessment considers but does not provide a breakdown of impacts by region or pupil characteristics, including special educational needs and age. The government predicts that, in the long-run steady state, there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private sector in the UK as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. This movement is expected to take place over several years. Of this number, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector in England to steadily increase to a peak of around £300 million per annum after several years.

The impact on individual local authorities will interact with other pressures and vary. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide full-time education for all children of statutory school age in their area, suitable for their age, aptitude, ability and any special educational needs and/or disabilities.

The department works with local authorities to help them fulfil their duty to secure school places. Requirements for state-funded places for children that would have attended a private school will be addressed in each local authority through normal processes.

Information on the number and proportion of looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is submitted to the department on an annual basis. This was recently published on 14 November 2024 at local authority level in our statistical release and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4e84f33a-d8a4-462c-0c25-08dd06f90d12.

The latest information on the characteristics of looked after children in England as at 31 March 2024 is within this publication and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

Figures are produced on an annual reporting year basis rather than monthly or quarterly year basis.

As at January 2024, 446,448 children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, had a school (including mainstream schools, special schools, alternative provision or pupil referral unit) named as the setting on their EHC plan. This represents 77.5% of all EHC plans.

To repair public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.

The government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with National Insurance Contributions (NICs) liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Employers will continue to be able to claim employer NICs reliefs, including the relief for employing apprentices under 25, where eligible.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made an announcement at the Autumn Budget 2024 setting out changes to Employers National Insurance Contributions policy. Alongside this, she announced funding to the public sector to support them with the additional associated cost.

The department will work closely with HM Treasury (HMT) to understand the implications for our sectors. This process will conclude when HMT confirm funding allocations by department as part of setting baselines and planning assumptions for the second phase of the spending review.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made an announcement at the Autumn Budget 2024 setting out changes to Employers National Insurance Contributions policy. Alongside this, she announced funding to the public sector to support them with the additional associated cost.

The department will work closely with HM Treasury (HMT) to understand the implications for our sectors. This process will conclude when HMT confirm funding allocations by department as part of setting baselines and planning assumptions for the second phase of the spending review.

The department publishes forecasts annually for higher education and further education student loans in England. The published forecasts include assumptions that fee caps and maintenance loans will increase annually by RPI All Items Index Excl Mortgage Interest (RPIX). These assumptions are agreed with a range of stakeholders, including HM Treasury (HMT), the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the National Audit Office. These forecasts are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england.

These assumptions in the baseline forecast mean the policy to apply inflationary increases to fee caps and maintenance loans in the 2025/26 academic year is equivalent to the baseline forecast, so there is no additional cost on either public sector net debt or financial liabilities when compared to the published figures, which are included in departmental accounts and provided to HMT.

Any increase to loan amounts, whether on maintenance or fee loans, compared to the baseline would increase public sector net debt (PSND) and public sector net financial liabilities (PSNFL). Student loans affect PSND by changing the government’s cash balance. The change in PSND is calculated as outlay (payments to students and providers) minus repayments. PSNFL includes the portion of student loans expected to be repaid and is calculated as PSND minus the modified loan balance. The annual increase in net debt would be equal to the increased cashflow, so the same as the increase in outlay in the near future.

In the context of student loans, public sector net financial liabilities are most affected in the short term by the proportion of the additional outlay the department forecasts will eventually be written off. As such, the impact of increased loan amounts would be smaller on net financial liabilities than on net debt.

The OBR was created in 2010 to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. The OBR’s approach to scrutinising each measure on HMT’s scorecard and incorporating these into its forecast is set out in its ‘Briefing paper No.6: Policy costings and our forecast’, which is available here: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/27814-BriefingPaperNo_6.pdf.

Inflationary increases to fee caps and maintenance loans are already included in the baseline forecast provided to the OBR, so no policy costing was necessary in this case, and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has had no discussions with the OBR on this matter.

The department publishes forecasts annually for higher education and further education student loans in England. The published forecasts include assumptions that fee caps and maintenance loans will increase annually by RPI All Items Index Excl Mortgage Interest (RPIX). These assumptions are agreed with a range of stakeholders, including HM Treasury (HMT), the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the National Audit Office. These forecasts are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england.

These assumptions in the baseline forecast mean the policy to apply inflationary increases to fee caps and maintenance loans in the 2025/26 academic year is equivalent to the baseline forecast, so there is no additional cost on either public sector net debt or financial liabilities when compared to the published figures, which are included in departmental accounts and provided to HMT.

Any increase to loan amounts, whether on maintenance or fee loans, compared to the baseline would increase public sector net debt (PSND) and public sector net financial liabilities (PSNFL). Student loans affect PSND by changing the government’s cash balance. The change in PSND is calculated as outlay (payments to students and providers) minus repayments. PSNFL includes the portion of student loans expected to be repaid and is calculated as PSND minus the modified loan balance. The annual increase in net debt would be equal to the increased cashflow, so the same as the increase in outlay in the near future.

In the context of student loans, public sector net financial liabilities are most affected in the short term by the proportion of the additional outlay the department forecasts will eventually be written off. As such, the impact of increased loan amounts would be smaller on net financial liabilities than on net debt.

The OBR was created in 2010 to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. The OBR’s approach to scrutinising each measure on HMT’s scorecard and incorporating these into its forecast is set out in its ‘Briefing paper No.6: Policy costings and our forecast’, which is available here: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/27814-BriefingPaperNo_6.pdf.

Inflationary increases to fee caps and maintenance loans are already included in the baseline forecast provided to the OBR, so no policy costing was necessary in this case, and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has had no discussions with the OBR on this matter.

The department publishes forecasts annually for higher education and further education student loans in England. The published forecasts include assumptions that fee caps and maintenance loans will increase annually by RPI All Items Index Excl Mortgage Interest (RPIX). These assumptions are agreed with a range of stakeholders, including HM Treasury (HMT), the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the National Audit Office. These forecasts are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england.

These assumptions in the baseline forecast mean the policy to apply inflationary increases to fee caps and maintenance loans in the 2025/26 academic year is equivalent to the baseline forecast, so there is no additional cost on either public sector net debt or financial liabilities when compared to the published figures, which are included in departmental accounts and provided to HMT.

Any increase to loan amounts, whether on maintenance or fee loans, compared to the baseline would increase public sector net debt (PSND) and public sector net financial liabilities (PSNFL). Student loans affect PSND by changing the government’s cash balance. The change in PSND is calculated as outlay (payments to students and providers) minus repayments. PSNFL includes the portion of student loans expected to be repaid and is calculated as PSND minus the modified loan balance. The annual increase in net debt would be equal to the increased cashflow, so the same as the increase in outlay in the near future.

In the context of student loans, public sector net financial liabilities are most affected in the short term by the proportion of the additional outlay the department forecasts will eventually be written off. As such, the impact of increased loan amounts would be smaller on net financial liabilities than on net debt.

The OBR was created in 2010 to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. The OBR’s approach to scrutinising each measure on HMT’s scorecard and incorporating these into its forecast is set out in its ‘Briefing paper No.6: Policy costings and our forecast’, which is available here: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/27814-BriefingPaperNo_6.pdf.

Inflationary increases to fee caps and maintenance loans are already included in the baseline forecast provided to the OBR, so no policy costing was necessary in this case, and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has had no discussions with the OBR on this matter.

As announced at Budget, the department expects to provide £8.1 billion for early years entitlements in the 2025/26 financial year, which is around a 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as the department continues to rollout the expansion of the entitlements to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. The department is looking at what the changes to National Insurance contributions will mean for the early years sector and will provide more details as soon as possible.

The Employment Allowance will be worth up to £10,500 for eligible providers, meaning some smaller providers may pay no National Insurance at all in the 2025/26 financial year.

The department is working at pace to publish funding rates for 2025/26 as we know how important this is for local authorities and providers.

As announced at Budget, the department expects to provide £8.1 billion for early years entitlements in the 2025/26 financial year, which is around a 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as the department continues to rollout the expansion of the entitlements to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. The department is looking at what the changes to National Insurance contributions will mean for the early years sector and will provide more details as soon as possible.

The Employment Allowance will be worth up to £10,500 for eligible providers, meaning some smaller providers may pay no National Insurance at all in the 2025/26 financial year.

The department is working at pace to publish funding rates for 2025/26 as we know how important this is for local authorities and providers.

As announced at Budget, the department expects to provide £8.1 billion for early years entitlements in the 2025/26 financial year, which is around a 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as the department continues to rollout the expansion of the entitlements to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. The department is looking at what the changes to National Insurance contributions will mean for the early years sector and will provide more details as soon as possible.

The Employment Allowance will be worth up to £10,500 for eligible providers, meaning some smaller providers may pay no National Insurance at all in the 2025/26 financial year.

The department is working at pace to publish funding rates for 2025/26 as we know how important this is for local authorities and providers.

The department works closely with the Ministry of Defence on delivery of the Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP). The CEP is run jointly by the departments and funding decisions are discussed and shared with ministers from both departments in that context.

The government, through the Ministry of Defence, provides in the region of £180 million to support cadet schemes. The CEP will continue to be delivered and receive £3.6 million in government funding for this academic year and through to the 2033/34 financial year. This goes to the single Service (i.e. Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force) cadet organisations, to provide funding for cadet expansion in schools.

The government, through the Ministry of Defence, provides in the region of £180 million to support cadets schemes. The Department for Education has contributed up to £1.1 million annually since the academic year 2021/22. This has provided some additional funding to support cadet expansion in the form of the school staff instructor (SSI) grant. This has been distributed to 230 state schools.

Due to the current challenging fiscal context the government is having to take difficult decisions to ensure the stability of the economy and, while the importance of cadets is being recognised by continued support for cadet units through core funding provided by the Ministry of Defence, the department has had to take the difficult decision to not extend the additional SSI grant into this academic year. All schools in receipt of the SSI grant have been informed.

The cadet expansion programme will continue to be delivered and receive £3.6 million in government funding for this academic year. This £3.6 million per year funding is within the Ministry of Defence’s annual budget cycle settlement showing a profile out to financial year 2033/2034. This funding goes to the single Service (Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force) cadet organisations to provide funding for cadet expansion in schools.

In 2024/25, the department is providing schools and high needs settings with £900 million through the teachers’ pay additional grant (TPAG), £1.1 billion through the teachers’ pension employer contribution grant (TPECG) to support them with the increased teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution rates from April 2024, and almost £1.1 billion through the core school budget grant (CSBG) to support schools with overall costs.

Guidance for schools and local authorities on the TPAG allocations for 2024/25, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-additional-grant-2024-to-2025.

Guidance for schools and local authorities on the TPECG 2024 for March 2024 to April 2025 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pension-employer-contribution-grant-2024-for-schools-high-needs-settings-and-local-authorities-2024-to-2025.

Allocations and guidance for schools and local authorities for the CSBG for September 2024 to March 2025 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-schools-budget-grant-csbg-2024-to-2025.

Information on the number of looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is submitted to the department on an annual basis and is published at local authority level in the department’s statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Information on the numbers and proportion of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children at 31 March in the years 2017 to 2023 is attached. Figures are produced on an annual rather than monthly basis.

Information on the number of care leavers who were former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is submitted to the department on an annual basis and is routinely published at national level in the department’s statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Information on the numbers and proportion of care leavers who were former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children at 31 March by local authority for the years 2017 to 2023 is attached.

Information on a monthly basis is not held centrally by the department.

Information on the number of looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, is submitted to the department on an annual basis and is published at local authority level in the department’s statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Information on the numbers and proportion of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children at 31 March in the years 2017 to 2023 is attached. Figures are produced on an annual rather than monthly basis.

Information on the number of care leavers who were former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is submitted to the department on an annual basis and is routinely published at national level in the department’s statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Information on the numbers and proportion of care leavers who were former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children at 31 March by local authority for the years 2017 to 2023 is attached.

Information on a monthly basis is not held centrally by the department.

Schools core funding is allocated through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which includes growth and premises funding. These can be found as separate funding lines in the published DSG tables. DSG allocations are available at a regional and local authority level at the following links:

• www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2019-to-2020.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2020-to-2021.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2021-to-2022.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2022-to-2023.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2023-to-2024.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025.

The department also provides pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils. These allocations are also available at regional and local authority level using the published tables, which can be accessed at:

• www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-2018-to-2019.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2019-to-2020.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2022-to-2023.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2023-to-2024.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2024-to-2025.

The department has also provided supplementary grants for schools to support them with the costs associated with teacher pay and pensions awards, as well as overall pressures. Information on the additional grants provided since 2018, such as the teachers’ pay additional grant (TPAG), the teachers’ pension employer contribution grant (TPECG) and the core schools’ budget grant (CSBG), can be found here:

• www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-grant-methodology/teachers-pay-grant-methodology.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pension-employer-contribution-grant-tpecg/pension-grant-methodology.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-supplementary-grant-2022-to-2023.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/mainstream-schools-additional-grant-2023-to-2024.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-additional-grant-2023-to-2024.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-additional-grant-2024-to-2025.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pension-employer-contribution-grant-2024-for-schools-high-needs-settings-and-local-authorities-2024-to-2025.
• www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-schools-budget-grant-csbg-2024-to-2025.

Most of these grants have since been rolled into DSG allocations. The only exceptions are the TPAG 2024/25, the TPECG 2024/25 and the CSBG 2024/25, which will all be rolled into the DSG allocations from 2025/26 onwards.

Outside core funding, schools have received a wide variety of further grants and programme funding since 2018/19. These are typically considerably smaller than the core funding streams set out above. This includes both funding provided nationally, and funding provided to particular areas and/or particular schools.

The attached table shows the number of borrowers who are liable to repay (i.e. are past their Statutory Repayment Due Date (SRDD) and have an outstanding loan) and of those, how many have ever made a repayment, split by Higher Education Provider (HEP).

The data has been supplied by the Student Loans Company. The data is for England domiciled borrowers who undertook full-time undergraduate courses. Please note the following caveats regarding the data:

• The data is not directly comparable across HEPs due to different course offerings, student numbers, communities served, and demographics of student cohorts. For example, some demographics of graduates may be more likely to take part-time employment, which is less likely to result in earnings over the repayment threshold.
• Borrowers from newer providers, where the majority have only just passed their SRDD, are less likely to have made a repayment as yet.
• The figures represent a snapshot in time and will change as borrowers pass their SRDD and may move into employment.
• Figures less than 11 in the ‘liable to repay’ column and less than 6 in the ‘repaying’ column have been suppressed.
• Where HEPs’ names are duplicated, this can be for a number of reasons, including two different providers having the same name.

The table below provides per pupil funding units from 2018/19 to 2024/25, which represents the funding provided for schools in all regions, nationally.

The department cannot provide comparable funding data back to 1994, due to the changes in the funding system since that time. In particular, funding for schools was only identified separately from funding for high needs or early years in 2013, and funding for central school services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in 2018/19.

The figures below represent the core funding schools receive through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All the figures in the table, apart from those for 2018/19 exclude growth funding but include premises funding. They do not include additional funding that schools have received for pay and pensions, or other funding streams, such as the pupil premium.

* In the 2018/19 DSG, growth funding and premises funding were calculated together, so the 2018/19 funding figures include growth funding. All other years exclude growth funding.

The department uses marketing to support the delivery of strategic aims and government priorities, including to recruit teachers and early years professionals, reform the skills landscape, and drive take up of products and services like apprenticeships, T Levels and childcare entitlements.

The department’s total spend on advertising and communications was £48 million in 2023/24. More information on the department’s accounts for 2023/24, the last year for which data is available, can be found in the link below: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a78085ce1fd0da7b592e80/DfE_consolidated_annual_report_and_accounts_2023_to_2024_-_web-optimised_version.pdf.