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 Good afternoon,
As you will have seen, yesterday the Chancellor set out this Government’s first budget. I am writing today to provide a bit more detail on what this means for schools and improving opportunities for your children and young people.
I know that for many of you, it is currently half term – and I hope that you are taking time to enjoy some well-deserved rest – so I wouldn’t usually reach out during this period. However, given this such an important announcement, I wanted to provide an immediate update.
High and rising standards in schools are central to helping us break down the barriers to opportunity so that every child and young person has the chance to succeed in life. School staff have a crucial role in helping us to achieve this and to deliver on our opportunity mission – but we recognise you need the support and resources to make this a reality.
In the context of difficult decisions across government, including within education, funding for schools will rise by £2.3bn next year, reflecting the status of education as a national priority. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9bn in 2025-26.
Of this total increase £1bn is being allocated as high needs funding in 2025-26, bringing total high needs funding to £11.9bn. This recognises the immense need in the sector and will help local authorities and schools in meeting the costs of providing support for children with SEND, while we continue to develop plans to transform England’s SEND system, in order to dramatically improve outcomes for young people.
The remaining £1.3bn will continue to fully fund, at a national level, the remaining costs of the 5.5% pay award for teachers for this academic year, honouring the commitment made earlier this year. It will also top up other elements of core funding including the pupil premium, and provide increases to mainstream schools’ budgets to help with future costs, including teacher and support staff pay awards in 2025.
We are also increasing capital allocations to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion for 2025-26, £300 million more than this year. As you may have already seen, this builds on the £1.4 billion committed to ensure the delivery of the existing School Rebuilding Programme, delivering on promises made to parents, teachers and local communities that crumbling school buildings will be rebuilt.
To support families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, breakfast clubs’ investment will triple, to over £30 million, to help ensure children are ready to learn at the start of the school day, and help drive improvements to behaviour, attendance and attainment.
You may have also seen that the Chancellor set out changes to employer National Insurance Contributions. Alongside this, there will be funding made available for the public sector – including schools - to support them with the additional associated cost. My Department will be working through the impact of this and will confirm funding allocations in due course.
It remains the case that right across the public sector there will be tough decisions to take on how money is spent, and we will need schools to use their money more efficiently, wherever possible. We will continue to support you to do just that, and we’re looking at both short-term and longer-term options to do so.
We also recognise that the increases for individual schools will vary, with some getting more, and some getting less, than the average increase. I want to reassure you that our funding system is designed so that schools seeing the largest pressures typically attract the largest funding increases. It is, quite rightly, not designed so that every school gets the same funding increase every year regardless; and it will never match each individual school’s precise costs, as schools have autonomy over their own spending.
I know that there will be some schools that still require additional support, and we will continue to work closely with those schools to ensure the best outcomes for pupils.
My department is now in the process of calculating the national funding formula (NFF) for 2025-26 and we expect to publish this by the end of November and will provide more information regarding the NFF for 2025-26, if possible, in advance of that. I encourage you to look out for updates. More detail on this funding increase will also be provided in the upcoming sector email.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who work so tirelessly to provide the best possible education to children and young people. You do not go unnoticed by this government and your support, knowledge, and dedication are central to our mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
This Budget is about fixing foundations of this country. Whether it’s a brilliant early years, free breakfast clubs or rising standards in our schools, all children should receive the best possible start to life, no matter what their background is.
There will undoubtedly be challenging times ahead, but you can be assured that this government will support you and that we’re putting education back at the forefront of national life.
Bridget Phillipson
Secretary of State for Education
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