Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on (a) his Department's revenue budget and (b) the adequacy of revenue funding for (i) schools, (ii) sixth forms, (iii) further education colleges, (iv) universities and (v) childcare provision; and if she will make a statement.

The Secretary of State for Education has regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on all aspects of the Department's revenue budget. The Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all and has channelled significant funding to achieve that.

Over the last year, the Government has announced substantial additional funding for education, on top of the sums promised at the last Spending Review.

At the Autumn Statement in November 2022 the Government announced additional funding of £2 billion for schools in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25.

In March 2023, in the Spring Budget the Government announced significant new funding to expand the free early education entitlements from April 2024, together with an additional £204 million this year, and £288 million next year, to increase the hourly rates paid for the existing entitlement offers. By 2027/28, the Government expects to spend in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. This represents the single biggest spending on childcare in England ever.

In July 2023, the Department announced an additional £525 million of funding this year to support schools with the teachers’ pay award, and £900 million in 2024/25, with a further £185 million in 2023/24 and £285 million in 2024/25, to drive forward skills delivery in the further education sector. Next year, school funding will be more than £59.6 billion, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil.

The Government currently provides significant financial support for the higher education sector of approximately £17 billion per year, including £10.7 billion in taxpayer subsidised tuition fee loans in the 2022/23 financial year.

The Department is funding an additional £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament to strengthen post-16 education and training. This includes £185 million in 2023/24 and £285 million in 2024/25 to help colleges tackle recruitment and retention issues in high value technical, vocational, and academic provision.