Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that education is adequately funded.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The 2022 Autumn Statement has provided an additional increase in the core schools’ budget of £2.3 billion for both 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.

Taking the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations and the additional funding announced in the 2022 Autumn Statement together, core schools funding is increasing by £3.5 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, compared to 2022/23. This takes the total core schools budget for 2023/24 to £57.3 billion. The core schools budget will total £58.8 billion in 2024/25.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies has said that this additional funding will fully cover expected increases in school costs up to 2024, and will take spending per pupil back to at least 2010 levels in real terms. That means the 2024/25 core school budget will be the highest ever level of spending on schools in real terms per pupil.

The Department continues to monitor the financial health of schools closely.