Overview
This website shows the budget cuts that state schools in Wales have faced since 2010. This page will tell you everything you need to know about how we calculate our figures.
If you would like to fact-check or reproduce our numbers, skip ahead to our lengthier methodology, annotated with our formulas and the datasets we source from.
What do the numbers on the website mean?
The figures on this website show the difference between how much funding schools currently receive per pupil compared to what they received in 2010/11.
How are the figures calculated?
We take the public data from StatsWales on funding and pupil numbers to calculate per pupil funding for 2010/11 through to 2023/24.
The figures are shown in real-terms – using our schools’ costs index. We have amended the index we developed for England. We have used the same figures for support staff pay and non-staff costs. Welsh teachers’ have received slightly different pay settlements since the foundation of the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body in 2019.
| Year | Pay award (AY) | Pay drift (AY) | Pay (AY) | Pay (FY) | National Insurance (FY) | Pensions (FY) | Health and Social Care Levy (FY) | Annual change (FY) |
| 2010-11 | 2.3% | 0.0% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.3% | |
| 2011-12 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1.4% | |
| 2012-13 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | |
| 2013-14 | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.5% | |
| 2014-15 | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | -0.1% | 0.0% | 0.9% | |
| 2015-16 | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1.3% | 2.3% | |
| 2016-17 | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 2.6% | 1.0% | 4.6% | |
| 2017-18 | 1.2% | 0.0% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.1% | |
| 2018-19 | 2.7% | 0.0% | 2.7% | 2.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.0% | |
| 2019-20 | 2.9% | 0.0% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 0.0% | 4.2% | 7.0% | |
| 2020-21 | 2.8% | 0.0% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 0.0% | 3.0% | 5.9% | |
| 2021-22 | 1.8% | 0.2% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.3% | |
| 2022-23 | 6.5% | -0.2% | 6.3% | 4.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 4.9% |
| 2023-24 | 5.0% | 0.0% | 5.0% | 5.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | -0.4% | 5.1% |
The constituent parts elements of schools’ costs, teachers’ pay, support staff pay and non-staff costs, are combined to create the index below.
| Year | Teachers’ pay | Non-teaching staff pay | Non-staff costs | Schools’ core costs per pupil | Energy | Schools’ costs per pupil |
| 2010-11 | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 1.6% | 1.6% | |
| 2011-12 | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 1.2% | 1.2% | |
| 2012-13 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | |
| 2013-14 | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 0.9% | |
| 2014-15 | 0.5% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 1.6% | 1.6% | |
| 2015-16 | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 1.4% | 1.4% | |
| 2016-17 | 2.4% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 3.9% | 3.9% | |
| 2017-18 | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.3% | 1.6% | 1.6% | |
| 2018-19 | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 2.4% | 2.4% | |
| 2019-20 | 3.6% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 5.2% | 5.2% | |
| 2020-21 | 3.1% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4.2% | 4.2% | |
| 2021-22 | 1.3% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 2.1% | 2.1% | |
| 2022-23 | 2.6% | 2.5% | 1.2% | 6.3% | 0.9% | 7.2% |
| 2023-24 | 2.8% | 2.2% | 1.1% | 6.0% | 0.9% | 6.9% |
Calculations
PPF = Per Pupil Funding
ISB = Individual Schools’ Budget
P = Pupils
CSP = Change in spending power
Where do we get our data?
We use the Welsh Government’s data as the basis for all our calculations.
Stats Wales Delegated School Budget
Specifically, we have taken into account these datasets:
- Individual schools’ budget
- Number of pupils
What data is not included?
We used publicly available school level data to make the calculations for schools. This has the advantage that it provides certainty on the accuracy, but it results in excluding some funding.
High needs funding – Because of the relatively small number of pupils and potentially large individual allocation, it is difficult to see trends in funding on a school-by-school basis, local authority averages are more appropriate.
16 to 19 allocations – These allocations were not available at school level.
Pupil development grant – The school by school allocations for the Pupil Development Grant do not include a school reference number and so it was not possible to match the sums to the other funding data.
Early Years Funding – These allocations are not provided at school level.