Damian Hinds

At the Spending Review 2025, the government announced that funding for schools will increase by £4.7 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to the 2025/26 core schools budget, which was published at the Spring Statement 2025.

This additional funding will enable us to transform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to make mainstream schools more inclusive, improve outcomes and stop parents having to fight for support.

Details of the government's intended approach to SEND reform will be set out in a Schools White Paper in the autumn. The department will also provide further details on the national funding formulae for schools and high needs for 2026/27.

Spending Review 2025 delivers on the Plan for Change and sets out spending plans for the rest of the Parliament. The settlement for the department ensures we can invest in excellence for every child, so that their background will not dictate what they go on to achieve.

The department has worked with the Office for Value for Money to identify £248 million of technical efficiencies by 2028/29. Details of these technical efficiencies are included in paragraphs 2.11 to 2.13 of the Departmental Efficiency Plans document, which was published alongside the main Spending Review document. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/departmental-efficiency-delivery-plans.

The skills system is central to achieving economic growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The government is providing £1.2 billion of additional investment per year by 2028/29. This includes funding to support 1.3 million 16 to 19-year-olds to access high-quality training, supporting 65,000 additional learners per year by 2028/29. It will also deliver £625 million between 2025/26 and 2028/29 to train up to 60,000 skilled construction workers, as announced at Spring Statement 2025.

Further detail on funding within this allocation will be set out in due course.

Spending Review 2025 delivers on the Plan for Change and sets out spending plans for the rest of the Parliament. The settlement for the department ensures that we can invest in excellence for every child, so that we break the unfair link between background and success.

As set out in the Department for Education's section of the Departmental Efficiency Delivery Plans, the department will deliver efficiencies in both its frontline and non-frontline spending.

95% of the department spending goes to the frontline and we will continue to support frontline providers in getting maximum value from every pound spent.

In relation to children’s social care, for example, the programme (joint with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) to reform the sector focuses on preventative activity which avoids families’ needs escalating, reducing costs and demand in the system. In relation to schools, the department will work alongside the sector to go further to get best value from their resources and is expanding the suite of productivity initiatives available. We will also work with the further education (FE) sector to improve the value for money of government spend by providing FE Commissioner support to colleges and other relevant providers. We are seeking to provide opportunities for economies of scale arising from more 16 to 19-year-olds moving into post-16 education and training, simplifying processes and reducing data collection burdens, and providing greater certainty of capital funding to enable colleges with estate planning, and exploring commercial efficiencies. Further information can be found in the Departmental Efficiency Delivery Plans.

The reference to school uniform in my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spending Review announcement on 11 June, relates to the government’s existing proposals in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to cut the cost of school uniforms by capping the number of compulsory branded uniform items.

School uniforms play an important role in establishing a common sense of identity and school belonging which can be supported by a small number of branded items. However, too many schools require high numbers of branded uniform items. This is why the department has introduced legislation to bring down costs for parents by limiting the amount of branded uniform items schools can require. This will give parents more choice in where to purchase uniform and allow them greater flexibility to make the spending decisions that suit their circumstances.

There are no plans to introduce a financial cap on the cost of school uniform.

High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child or young person’s outcomes in schools and colleges. This is why the government’s Plan for Change is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.

We recognise that workforce shortages are more acute in some subjects and we have put in place a range of measures to boost recruitment and retention in these areas. We announced a £233 million initial teacher training (ITT) financial incentives package for 2025/26, which includes bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £31,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing, where there is a particular need to boost recruitment. The complete list can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-initial-teacher-training-itt/funding-initial-teacher-training-itt-academic-year-2025-to-2026#postgraduate-bursaries-and-scholarships.

To support retention in key subjects, in 2025/26, the department is offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools or teach technical subjects in further education colleges.

The department undertakes regular reviews to ensure we are prioritising the subjects where teachers are needed most, for example through our ITT bursaries, which are reviewed annually to reflect teacher supply need in each subject.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government tripled its investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million in the 2025/26 financial year to help ensure children are ready to learn at the start of the school day.

From the start of the 2025 summer term, the first 750 free breakfast clubs with early adopter schools are opening in towns and cities across the country.

Allocated funding covers early adopter food, delivery and staffing costs. It is based on previous breakfast club schemes, and discussions with schools who run breakfast clubs, and standard school staffing rates. All schools have received £500 to cover initial set-up costs and will receive a lump sum of at least £1,000 a term, regardless of how many pupils will be in attendance. Schools will then receive an arrears payment based on the number of pupils who accessed the club, the characteristics of the pupils with and with an additional daily rate for FSM6 pupils at the school. For special schools, there is a daily rate of £3.23 per day per child who attends the club. An average primary school, with 50% take-up, will receive over £23,000 for a full year for an early adopter Breakfast Club more than £21,000 above what was provided to schools under the previous government’s National School Breakfast Programme which failed to cover all food or staffing costs.

One function of the early adopters is to test how schools utilise the funding and how many pupils access the offer. The department has a robust strategy to capture and analyse this data.

Every year the department publishes the schools’ costs technical note to help the sector to understand school costs and funding. Our analysis considers pupil demographic changes alongside other factors.

The department allocates most mainstream funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF). In the 2025/26 financial year, 92% of total schools NFF funding is being distributed through “pupil led” factors, which are based on pupil numbers and pupil characteristics, such as eligibility for pupil premium and special educational needs and disabilities.

Real terms per pupil comparisons are only one way in which the department communicates funding changes, and schools and local authorities can also see their funding as total cash amounts. The total size of the core schools budget in the 2025/26 financial year is £65.3 billion, a £3.7 billion increase over 2024/25. This represents a 6.0% rise in cash terms, or 3.3% increase in real terms.

Every year the department publishes the schools’ costs technical note to help the sector to understand school costs and funding. Our analysis considers pupil demographic changes alongside other factors.

The department allocates most mainstream funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF). In the 2025/26 financial year, 92% of total schools NFF funding is being distributed through “pupil led” factors, which are based on pupil numbers and pupil characteristics, such as eligibility for pupil premium and special educational needs and disabilities.

Real terms per pupil comparisons are only one way in which the department communicates funding changes, and schools and local authorities can also see their funding as total cash amounts. The total size of the core schools budget in the 2025/26 financial year is £65.3 billion, a £3.7 billion increase over 2024/25. This represents a 6.0% rise in cash terms, or 3.3% increase in real terms.

Every year the department publishes the schools’ costs technical note to help the sector to understand school costs and funding. Our analysis considers pupil demographic changes alongside other factors.

The department allocates most mainstream funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF). In the 2025/26 financial year, 92% of total schools NFF funding is being distributed through “pupil led” factors, which are based on pupil numbers and pupil characteristics, such as eligibility for pupil premium and special educational needs and disabilities.

Real terms per pupil comparisons are only one way in which the department communicates funding changes, and schools and local authorities can also see their funding as total cash amounts. The total size of the core schools budget in the 2025/26 financial year is £65.3 billion, a £3.7 billion increase over 2024/25. This represents a 6.0% rise in cash terms, or 3.3% increase in real terms.

The apprenticeship levy is collected by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. HMRC publish overall levy receipts at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.

The department is responsible for apprenticeships in England only. The funding for apprenticeship training comes from the annual protected apprenticeship budget agreed at Spending Reviews. Although closely linked, this is distinct from the total levy income collected and the funds in employer accounts.

The department is therefore not able to provide information about how individual levy contributions link to the amount of the budget that is spent supporting level 7 apprenticeships in specific bodies.

The department publishes official statistics on apprenticeships that include information on apprenticeship starts by sector, level, standard and age at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.

Details of apprenticeship standards by route at level 7 can be found at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeships/?levels=7&includeApprovedForDelivery=true.

The apprenticeship levy is collected by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. HMRC publish overall levy receipts at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.

The department is responsible for apprenticeships in England only. The funding for apprenticeship training comes from the annual protected apprenticeship budget agreed at Spending Reviews. Although closely linked, this is distinct from the total levy income collected and the funds in employer accounts.

The department is therefore not able to provide information about how individual levy contributions link to the amount of the budget that is spent supporting level 7 apprenticeships in specific bodies.

The department publishes official statistics on apprenticeships that include information on apprenticeship starts by sector, level, standard and age at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.

Details of apprenticeship standards by route at level 7 can be found at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeships/?levels=7&includeApprovedForDelivery=true.

All schools and colleges must have regard to ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. This guidance already makes clear that schools and colleges should ensure appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place and that their effectiveness is regularly reviewed.

The department developed the filtering and monitoring standards to help schools and colleges to understand what they should be doing to keep children safe online. These standards offer support to schools, who can use South-West Grid for Learning’s testing tool to check that, as a minimum, their filtering system is blocking access to illegal child abuse material, unlawful terrorist content, and adult content.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) provide lists of illegal websites that filtering providers can block as part of their service, known as blocklists. Schools and colleges must make sure these blocklists are included with their filtering solutions.

To further support schools, the department has launched ‘Plan technology for your school’ which allows schools to self-assess their filtering and monitoring provision against the standards and make strategic decisions about how to improve their provision. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-technology-for-your-school.

The department will continue to work with the providers, including filtering and monitoring providers, and the wider sector, to understand how we can best support them.

All schools and colleges must have regard to ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. This guidance already makes clear that schools and colleges should ensure appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place and that their effectiveness is regularly reviewed.

The department developed the filtering and monitoring standards to help schools and colleges to understand what they should be doing to keep children safe online. These standards offer support to schools, who can use South-West Grid for Learning’s testing tool to check that, as a minimum, their filtering system is blocking access to illegal child abuse material, unlawful terrorist content, and adult content.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) provide lists of illegal websites that filtering providers can block as part of their service, known as blocklists. Schools and colleges must make sure these blocklists are included with their filtering solutions.

To further support schools, the department has launched ‘Plan technology for your school’ which allows schools to self-assess their filtering and monitoring provision against the standards and make strategic decisions about how to improve their provision. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-technology-for-your-school.

The department will continue to work with the providers, including filtering and monitoring providers, and the wider sector, to understand how we can best support them.

The number of hair and beauty related apprenticeship starts in England is published in the apprenticeship accredited official statistics publication, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aab773ca-8918-4c57-2ec9-08dd9836fa33.

These were last published in March 2025 and include full year figures for the 2023/24 academic year and year to date figures for the 2024/25 academic year (August 2024 to January 2025).

Apprenticeships are jobs and starts are dependent on employers choosing to offer apprenticeship opportunities, as well as individuals choosing to undertake them.

High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child and young person’s outcome in schools and colleges. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child.

This is why, in its Plan for Change, the government is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament, and we will be continuing to monitor this.

Delivery is already under way. Upon entering government we moved quickly to expand our Get Into Teaching marketing campaign and, in July 2024, announced a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools. In 2024/25, we drove forward teacher recruitment and retention, backed by investment of around £700 million across schools and further education (FE). This includes announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package, confirming targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax, and taking steps to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing. Building on this, on 22 May 2025, we also announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools in England from September 2025, ensuring teaching remains an attractive graduate profession.

The government’s Plan for Change is starting to deliver, with over 2,000 more people training to become secondary school teachers this year and recruitment on track to improve even further for the cohort set to start training in 2025/26, with 1,070 more acceptances to postgraduate and teacher degree apprenticeship initial teacher training courses in secondary subjects by the end of April 2025, compared to the same time last year. Additionally, over 2,500 more teachers are expected to stay in the profession over the next three years.

High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child and young person’s outcome in schools and colleges. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child.

This is why, in its Plan for Change, the government is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament, and we will be continuing to monitor this.

Delivery is already under way. Upon entering government we moved quickly to expand our Get Into Teaching marketing campaign and, in July 2024, announced a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools. In 2024/25, we drove forward teacher recruitment and retention, backed by investment of around £700 million across schools and further education (FE). This includes announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package, confirming targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax, and taking steps to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing. Building on this, on 22 May 2025, we also announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools in England from September 2025, ensuring teaching remains an attractive graduate profession.

The government’s Plan for Change is starting to deliver, with over 2,000 more people training to become secondary school teachers this year and recruitment on track to improve even further for the cohort set to start training in 2025/26, with 1,070 more acceptances to postgraduate and teacher degree apprenticeship initial teacher training courses in secondary subjects by the end of April 2025, compared to the same time last year. Additionally, over 2,500 more teachers are expected to stay in the profession over the next three years.

In August 2024 the government announced the content store, which is a £3 million data library funded by the Department for Science and Technology. It will be used to provide large language artificial intelligence (AI) models with high-quality educational information, like curriculums and mark schemes. This means AI products will be even more effective at producing resources to help teachers.

The department also announced the AI Tools for Education Funding, £1 million of funding through Innovate UK’s contracts for innovation programme, to help build AI tools that will help with teacher workload across all the key stages.

In January 2025, to ensure the safety of children the department announced that leading global tech firms had jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services are amongst the firms who have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use. The resulting Generative AI product safety expectations framework was announced on 22 January 2025.

To support a clear ask from teachers and leaders, the department is developing online resources and guidance materials to help teachers and leaders use AI safely in their setting. We expect the resources to be published in summer 2025. The online resources and guidance materials for teachers will outline the basic information that everyone working with young people should know about using AI safely and some potential applications or basic training in how to use generative AI tools.

The department is working to develop the evidence base for the safe and effective use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education, including interventions to ensure teachers are equipped and supported to promote safe and appropriate use of AI.

The department’s policy position on generative AI in education sets out advice on legal responsibilities related to data protection, keeping children safe in education and intellectual property law when considering the use of pupil-facing generative AI.

A new departmental group will advise on digital, AI and technology to increase the future pipeline of talent and prepare children and young people for an AI and tech-enabled world, as well as promoting the use of AI and education technology for better teaching and learning. Expert and evidence-informed recommendations will be produced.

The department is also developing online training resources and guidance materials for teachers and leaders, to be launched in the summer. The resources will help with the risks and opportunities of AI across settings as part of a wider digital strategy.

In January 2025, the department announced that leading global tech firms had jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services are amongst the firms who have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use. The Generative AI product safety expectations framework was published in January 2025.

This measure limits the number of compulsory branded items of uniform that schools can require to three or under. Secondary schools and middle schools will have the option to include an additional compulsory branded item if one of those items is a tie.

The proposed legislation defines school uniform as a bag and any clothing required for school or for any lesson, club, activity or event facilitated by the school. Therefore, as it is not clothing or a bag, a branded lanyard ribbon would not count towards the limit on the number of branded school uniform items.

We also expect schools to follow existing statutory guidance which is clear that all branded items should be kept to a minimum and that schools should carefully consider whether any branded item is the most cost-effective way of achieving the desired result for their uniform.

The majority of GCSE and A level examinations are handwritten in England. The department has been working closely with Ofqual, the independent regulator of qualifications and assessments, to consider the potential benefits and risks of greater use of onscreen assessment in high stakes qualifications and to carry out research to understand the implications for schools and colleges, students and other stakeholders. The ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review will also continue to consider evidence on this topic. Any final decisions about the future of onscreen examinations over the long term will be informed by evidence and the views of stakeholders.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, ministers and departmental officials engage extensively with teachers, leaders, support staff and experts to both respond to the implications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies and to support schools to teach a knowledge-rich computing curriculum up to 16. In March, the Secretary of State for Education along with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology attended a department-sponsored Hackathon, a demonstration of AI tools, which explored how these can save time for teachers, leaders and support staff.

The department has adopted a collaborative and innovation-focused approach to testing where AI can be effective in supporting educational delivery through looking domestically and internationally to understand good practice and investing in programmes that generate evidence and build understanding of what works.

The AI content store project is pre-processing educational content and resources to support the creation of high-quality AI tools, initially for formative assessment, as part of the Innovate UK funding competition.

Following the department’s call for evidence on generative AI, we are developing online resources and guidance materials to support school AI safely, to be published this year. The Chiltern Learning Trust and the Chartered College of Teaching have been contracted to deliver these resources, developed collaboratively with the sector.

In addition, the department provided up to £2 million funding to support Oak National Academy to develop AI tools for teachers including an AI lesson planning assistant, Aila, that helps teachers create personalised lesson plans and resources in minutes, saving them hours.

The department launched a call for evidence on generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education, which sought views and experiences from practitioners, the Edtech sector and AI experts on the use of generative AI in education, including to support lesson planning and resource creation. The department published a report on the views of educators and experts on generative AI, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-ai-in-education-educator-and-expert-views.

The department commissioned a ‘use cases for generative AI’ or ‘Hackathons’ project, working with Faculty Science Ltd in partnership with the National Institute of Teaching to assess possible uses for generative AI in education.

Following on from this, the department is now piloting an Edtech evidence board to bring together a group of experts to assess and evaluate the impact of Edtech tools, including generative AI tools, on teaching and learning against set criteria. This could then be shared with the sector to support and inform their technology choices.

In addition, the department provided £2 million funding to support Oak National Academy to develop AI tools for teachers. Oak has launched an AI lesson assistant, Aila, that can help teachers plan lessons.

The department is also funding Ofsted to gather insights from early-adopter schools and further education colleges on the use of AI and the role leaders are playing. The aim of this research is to provide an up-to-date assessment of what emerging practice is developing.

Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for decisions including course content and teaching and assessment. As such, they are responsible for designing and implementing their own policies and approaches to the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Universities and colleges rightly have policies in place to identify and respond to cheating in assessment. The consequences for students can be severe, including removal from their course. With the support of the Academic Integrity Advisory Group, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has developed an Academic Integrity Charter, which sets out key guiding principles to support academic integrity policy development and practice in UK higher education. Over 200 institutions have pledged to implement the Charter’s principles and commitments, working with staff and students to promote academic integrity and take action against academic misconduct.

The sector is developing guidelines for ethical and responsible use of generative AI for staff and students. In July 2023 the Russell Group published a set of principles, developed in partnership with educational experts, recognising the risks of AI and committing its members to helping staff and students become leaders in an increasingly AI-enabled world.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) presents a number of risks which need to be managed carefully. The department is developing online training resources and guidance materials for teachers and leaders. The resources will help with the risks and opportunities of AI across settings as part of a wider digital strategy. We expect the resources to be published in summer 2025.

In January 2025, to ensure the safety of our children, the department announced that leading global tech firms had jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services are amongst the firms who have helped develop a set of expectations, AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use. The 'Generative AI: product safety expectations' framework was published in January 2025.

The department is funding Ofsted to conduct research into how early adopter schools and further education colleges are using AI to support teaching and learning and manage administrative systems and processes. This research will provide an up-to-date assessment of what emerging practices are developing in the education sector's use of AI and the role that school and college leaders are playing in supporting innovation through embedding AI and managing associated risks.

While no formal assessment has been made of trends in using artificial intelligence (AI) for homework, the department is working to ensure teachers are equipped and supported to promote safe and appropriate use of AI.

The National Centre for Computing Education provides support. Their course ‘AI in key stage 3 computing’ supports teacher AI understanding and how to promote effective and safe use.

A new departmental group will advise on AI and technology to increase the future pipeline of talent and prepare children and young people for an AI and tech-enabled world, as well as promoting the use of AI and educational technology for better teaching and learning. Expert and evidence-informed recommendations will be produced.

Where pupils complete coursework as part of their homework, guidance on the use of AI is available to teachers via the Joint Council for Qualifications. Schools, colleges and awarding organisations need to continue taking reasonable steps to prevent malpractice involving the use of generative AI. The guidance includes:

• What counts as AI misuse and real-life examples of malpractice.
• The requirements for teachers and exam centres to help prevent and detect malpractice.
• AI use and marking.
• An expanded list of AI tools, including AI detection tools.

The department is funding 750 early adopter schools to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes. Schools will receive a combination of set-up, fixed-term and per-pupil payments to cover staffing, delivery and food. Funding rates vary depending on uptake and pupil characteristics.

On average, a school with 50% take-up would receive around £23,000 for a full year. The funding model is designed to ensure that allocations reflect actual take up in early adopter schools.

A key aim of the early adopter programme is to test and learn about take-up across a diverse range of schools, to help inform future national rollout.

The department used existing programmes and cost data to determine the funding rates and methodology, which have been tested and refined with a number of schools. It is designed to ensure schools can meet the minimum expectations, including a 30 minute breakfast club with food that meets the school food standards.

The department is funding 750 early adopter schools to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes. Schools will receive a combination of set-up, fixed-term and per-pupil payments to cover staffing, delivery and food. Funding rates vary depending on uptake and pupil characteristics.

On average, a school with 50% take-up would receive around £23,000 for a full year. The funding model is designed to ensure that allocations reflect actual take up in early adopter schools.

A key aim of the early adopter programme is to test and learn about take-up across a diverse range of schools, to help inform future national rollout.

The department used existing programmes and cost data to determine the funding rates and methodology, which have been tested and refined with a number of schools. It is designed to ensure schools can meet the minimum expectations, including a 30 minute breakfast club with food that meets the school food standards.

The review that my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced in October 2024 will put a stop to the over-supply of unnecessary places and channel funding towards improving the deteriorating condition of existing schools and colleges and enable prioritisation of capital funding where it is most needed across the education estate to counter urgent condition need.

Since the review was announced, departmental officials have been working through evidence gathered from trusts and local authorities to develop robust, evidence-based recommendations. We will update trusts and local authorities on next steps in due course.