Skip to content
9 April 2026

Tag: school funding

Unions publish school funding constituency league table to sway voters

A new league table that allows voters to see how their constituency has been affected by real-terms funding cuts has been published today by the National Education Union. It’s the latest attempt by the union to put school funding at the centre of the general election campaign. A tool previously set up by a coalition […]

Poorer pupils ‘would miss out under PM’s school funding pledge’

Disadvantaged pupils would miss out on additional money under the prime minister’s pledge to “level up” per-pupil funding for schools, new analysis reveals. The Education Policy Institute found Boris Johnson’s plans for new minimum per-pupil funding levels “would disproportionately direct additional funding towards the least disadvantaged schools”. Johnson vowed to increase levels of funding from […]

Ministers still relying on ‘misleading’ record funding claims

Senior government ministers, including the prime minister, keep peddling the “misleading” line that “more money than ever before” is going to schools, despite mounting condemnation from the statistics watchdog. Theresa May, Damian Hinds, the education secretary, and Nick Gibb, the schools minister, are all repeat offenders, continuing to boast about the “record” levels of funding […]

DfE plans new funding ‘centre of excellence’ team

The government is preparing to launch a funding “centre of excellence” that will be led by its first overall director of funding. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is expected to announce who has been given the coveted position soon. The successful candidate will be responsible for the “development, implementation and maintenance of a […]

Tory peer’s academy trust seeks unpaid workers

An academy trust founded by a Conservative peer is advertising for unpaid volunteers to fill key roles, as plans for another free school bite the dust. Newly published accounts for the Floreat Education Academies Trust, founded in 2014 by Lord James O’Shaughnessy, a former aide to David Cameron, show “very low pupil numbers” forced it […]

Investigation: The schools that slip through the council finance net

Thousands of council schools have not had their finances independently scrutinised for more than five years – three of which were last audited by their local authority nearly 20 years ago. Schools Week can also reveal that council schools have been breaking rules over tax checks, issuing contracts and unauthorised pay rises for staff. And […]

Revealed: The 50 academy trusts that cut chief executive pay

The government has named 50 academy trusts that have cut executive pay following pressure from officials. A list, sent to Schools Week under the freedom of information act, reveals the names of the trusts that have stopped paying salaries of either £100,000 to £150,000 or over £150,000. However this does not include any trusts that […]

Why is Ofsted silent on the school funding crisis?

If Ofsted is happy to rely on anecdotal evidence for off-rolling and school readiness, why does it refuse to speak out on the school funding crisis, the impacts of which are clear as day, asks Paul Whiteman Ofsted’s annual report describes a school system that is performing well but is under significant strain. The number […]