spending review | Schools Week

What the spending review really means for schools

The next few years are going to be very tight for school budgets, writes Luke Sibieta, and forecasting anything more than a real-terms freeze is highly optimistic

Spending review: Ex-recovery tsar blasts ‘meagre’ £1.8m catch-up cash

Sir Kevan Collins says catch-up funding ‘incredible disappointing’

Spending review: What schools can expect as pay freeze lifted

School leaders welcome end of pay freeze and new SEND funding, but fear no extra cash for wage rises and a new DfE cost-cutting drive

Government has ‘maxed out’ on school catch-up cash, says Sunak

Chancellor also questioned the effectiveness of extending school days

Leading academy CEOs demand £5.8bn catch-up cash for poorer pupils

A group of leading academy trust bosses have set out proposals for a £5.8 billion Covid recovery plan, as Gavin Williamson confirmed he was lobbying within government for extra school funding. In an unusual intervention, the chief executives of five large multi-academy trusts have co-signed a letter to the education secretary warning failure to adopt […]

Spending review: School budget fears as departments asked to find ‘at least’ 5% savings

The Department for Education has been asked to find savings of “at least” 5 per cent as part of the spending review, leaving it facing cuts that could amount to £4.5 billion and prompting fears of an impact on school budgets. The Treasury announced this week that the spending review, a plan for public spending […]

Two-thirds of heads warn schools face cuts despite ‘record’ funding

Two-thirds of primary school leaders say sharp cutbacks could be needed to balance their books in two years’ time, according to a union survey. The NAHT union warned almost a third of those polled had already made cuts in the past year, with some heads revealing they had cut teaching assistant and site manager roles […]

DfE won’t say if NTP second-year cash is new

The government’s flagship National Tutoring Programme will be funded for an extra year, but the Department for Education has been unable to confirm whether the cash is new. Schools Week revealed on Wednesday that the scheme was heading for a second year, and the DfE belatedly confirmed the move yesterday. Gavin Williamson said the spending […]

Spending review: Treasury now says £30k starting salary pledge pushed back a year

The government has abandoned its pledge to raise teacher starting salaries to £30,000 by 2022-23, saying the target will now be reached by 2024 instead. The Treasury initially confirmed yesterday that it still planned to deliver the commitment made in the Conservatives’ election manifesto last year, despite enacting a pay freeze for teachers in the […]