£4.7 billion more core funding for schools in 2024-25

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has given his Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 speech, announcing an additional £4.7 billion in core funding for schools in 2024-25,  including £1.6 billion in 2022-23 on top of already planned increases from the 2019 Spending Review, and meaning a total cash increase of £1,500 per pupil between 2019-20 and 2024-25.

This additional investment will also support the delivery of a £30,000 starting salary for all new teachers.

The funding sits alongside a further £1.8 billion dedicated to supporting young people to catch up on missed learning, following on from the existing investment in catch up for early years, schools and colleges, including for tutoring and teacher training opportunities.

The dedicated recovery investment includes a one-off £1 billion recovery premium to support disadvantaged pupils in all state-funded primary and secondary schools, while £800 million will be allocated across the period to ensure all 16-19 students will benefit from an additional 40 hours of education across the academic year - the equivalent of one additional hour a week in school or college.

The funding takes the government’s direct investment in education recovery to almost £5 billion, building on the high-quality tutoring for millions of pupils and world-class training for thousands of teachers and early years staff, already being provided.

Primary schools will continue to benefit from the same per pupil rate as this year’s recovery premium, while secondary schools are expected to receive nearly double that amount, meaning an average secondary school could attract around £70,000 a year. This extra support in secondary reflects evidence showing the greater gaps in older pupils’ learning and lower amount of time those pupils have left in education.

Schools will be able to use the funding in ways that best support their young people to catch up – from specialist small group support in reading and maths, to after-school provision or summer schools.

Students in 16-19 settings who have the least time left to recover learning lost will benefit from an additional 40 hours of education across the academic year, equivalent to an additional hour per week. This time will be used for extra teaching and learning - including in English, maths and other subjects - depending on students’ individual needs. This, alongside the 16-19 tuition fund, will help to prepare these students for their future.