Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to increase core funding for schools.

This year the core schools budget has increased to £42.4 billion and will rise further to £43.5 billion in 2019‑20. This increase follows the additional £1.3 billion announced last year, over and above what was promised at the last Spending Review, which is being provided by prioritising front-line spending within the Department’s budget.

This means that funding for the average primary school class this year is £132,000, which is £8,000 more in real terms than in 2008. The same children will receive on average £171,000 when they move to secondary school, a real terms rise of £10,000 compared to a decade ago. Figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that real terms per-pupil funding in 2020 for five to sixteen year olds will be more than 50% higher than it was in 2000.

Funding after 2019-20 will be determined at the next spending review.