Schools are “on their knees trying to do more with less” after losing £4.5 billion to real-terms funding cuts in the last 16 years. A report by the Stop School Cuts coalition, led by unions ASCL, the NEU and NAHT, launched a report today about the state of school funding. It found a generation of students have known nothing but cuts, with schools losing £300 million in the last year alone as funding failed to keep pace with costs. Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of schools have less real terms funding than in 2010. A total of 3,773 schools have lost more than £1,000 in real terms per-pupil funding, while 773 schools have lost more than £2,000. The School Cuts website shows that 1,323 schools have faced more than £1 million in budget cuts since 2010. And more than nine in 10 secondary schools (92 per cent) are worse off than in 2010. The prime minister and chancellor have been urged to take action to restore the lost funding in the upcoming autumn budget. It also comes after teaching union NASWUT called for schools to be given more money to fund pay rises in the budget. ‘National scandal’ The School Cuts report found there was a “perfect storm” of resourcing pressures on schools, including crumbling school buildings, reduced staffing, increased workload and lack of funding for learning resources and materials. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU said it was “a national scandal to have a generation of children that have only known cuts”, and that there needed to be a “fresh start”. “Pupils leaving England’s school system today will have been taught in crumbling classrooms from reception to secondary and missed out on life-changing subjects like art and music.” Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “The reality is that funding is failing to keep pace with rising cost pressures. We know that the new prime minister and secretary of state are ambitious for education, but this ambition must be matched with the resources schools desperately need.” Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of ASCL, added that expectations on schools and colleges have “increased relentlessly at the very same time”. “Senior leaders and their staff are left having to make impossible decisions on where to make the next round of cutbacks, and are on their knees trying to do ever more with ever less. “Politicians must be more realistic and ensure that our shared ambitions for education are matched by resources.” Emma Balchin, CEO of National Governance Association, said the situation was made “far more challenging” due to other issues, including falling pupil numbers. “While we applaud the government’s ambition for a sustainable and thriving system, that vision simply cannot be achieved without strategic investment today and in the years ahead.” The Department for Education was contacted for comment.