Get the facts on spending on schools

8 December 2020

School funding hasn’t increased by £5k per pupil

The Conservative Party has made incorrect claims about education spending on social media.

7 July 2020

The government’s education funding figures need context

Figures given by the Department for Education about the amount of weekly funding for schools do not give the full picture.

17 June 2020

Some children with no recourse to public funds are eligible for free school meals

A question at PMQs by Labour MP Stephen Timms suggested this wasn’t the case. Free school meal eligibility has been temporarily extended to some of these children.

14 January 2020

State spending isn’t at a record high when you consider the size of the economy

Public spending amounts to around 40% of the size of the economy. It’s been smaller before. It’s also been bigger before.

19 September 2019

Is schools spending going to be at record levels?

Per pupil spending in England is set to increase over the next three years to roughly the level it was at in 2009/10.

3 September 2019

Is £14 billion being spent on education?

By 2022/23 the government aims to spend £4.3 billion more on education, once you account for inflation, than in 2019/20.

2 November 2018

BBC Question Time: Recap and Factcheck

Question Time on 1 November came from Clacton-on-Sea. Topics covered included income tax changes, austerity, early elections, policing priorities, and the impact of the investigation into Arron Banks.

10 October 2018

Government school spending figures: correct but misleading

Spending per pupil in England fell by 8% in real terms from 2009/10 to 2017/18, and will be held constant from 2017/18 to 2019/20. UK education spending was about average among OECD countries in 2015.

2 August 2018

Are grammar schools facing a crisis of funding?

English grammar schools received around £700 less state funding per pupil than other state schools in 2016/17.

14 May 2018

Sure Start, school building and tuition fees: the Conservative and Coalition record

Explaining the Coalition and Conservative governments’ record on tuition fees, Education Maintenance Allowance, Sure Start, and school building.

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Spending on schools

School funding hasn’t increased by £5k per pupil

The government’s education funding figures need context

Some children with no recourse to public funds are eligible for free school meals

State spending isn’t at a record high when you consider the size of the economy

Is schools spending going to be at record levels?

Is £14 billion being spent on education?

BBC Question Time: Recap and Factcheck

Government school spending figures: correct but misleading

Are grammar schools facing a crisis of funding?

Sure Start, school building and tuition fees: the Conservative and Coalition record

Full Fact fights bad information