Majority of schools to face cuts next year
Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer promised change. After 14 years of damaging school cuts, we expected this Government to begin to reverse the cuts. But the Government have decided to not fully fund the teachers pay award for this year.
There is no way around it, this means more cuts for our schools.
New research by the Stop School Cuts campaign shows that cuts to education funding next year would be the equivalent of salaries for 12,400 school staff – 5,700 teachers and 6,700 support staff.
The gap in funding will mean that the vast majority of schools – 75 per cent of primary schools and 92 per cent of secondary schools – will be forced to make cuts next year. The average primary school will see a cut in spending power of 1.1 per cent and the average secondary school will see a cut of 1.2 per cent. In total there will be a £630 million real terms cut to school funding.
This cut in funding will see overall per pupil funding drop to the lowest levels in England in real terms for at least 15 years.
Schools are still in the midst of a funding crisis. Heads, teachers and school staff have done all they can to shield children from the impact of cuts. There are no more efficiencies to be made in school budgets. After 14 years of austerity, the majority of schools are currently not able to absorb increased costs.
These cuts will lead to schools shedding subjects, losing staff, and cutting back on basic maintenance to balance the books.
All of this at a time when our class sizes in the UK are among the highest in Europe and a million children are taught in classes of 30 or more.
Many primary schools will also be hit by falling pupil rolls, which combined with cuts to funding could force them to close.
Every local authority in the country will see a reduction in real terms per pupil funding, with the worst hit local authority, Hammersmith and Fulham, seeing a cut of 1.9 per cent.
If she doesn’t turn back now, Rachel Reeves will only deepen the crisis in our schools. She will be the first Labour Chancellor since 1979 to tell schools to make cuts.
It’s not too late for the Chancellor to do the right thing.