Commenting on the Institute for Fiscal Studies Annual report on education spending in England: 2025–26, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“This report confirms that increases in SEND funding, though insufficient, have been paid for by starving mainstream funding. NEU analysis shows that mainstream school funding per pupil has fallen from £7,541 in 2015-16 to £6,904 in 2024-25 when accounting for school costs. This just isn’t good enough.
“The 2025 Spending Review has set the course for the next three years. The Core Schools Budget is increasing from £64.8bn in 2025-26 to £69.5bn by 2028-29. This is barely a CPI increase. Around half of even this meagre amount will be taken by the High Needs block, leaving mainstream funding operating on even more of a shoestring.
“Our most recent survey shows that schools are ‘running on empty’ with shortages of even basic supplies like glue sticks and pens. Staff who leave are very often not replaced, driving up workload and class sizes still further. Mainstream schools can’t cope as it is, let alone deal with more cuts. The government needs to do better.
“The education system faces a further crisis in 2028-29. The solution to integrating High Needs funding into national spending limits cannot be to raid mainstream school funding even more. The education system needs clarity – and a revisiting of the 2025 Spending Review settlement.”