Schools in Burnley and Padiham are set to benefit from record funding as England’s core school budget will reach almost £60 billion over the next 12 months.
This represents the highest ever level in real terms – with Burnley and Padiham set to benefit from a total funding increase of £2,343,391 in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24.
Thanks to the widespread education reforms, England continues to rise up the global rankings in maths, reading, and science. Just last month, England was ranked 11th in the world for maths, up from 27th in 2009, placing England as one of the top performing countries in the western world, and in May, England was named ‘best in the west’ for primary reading.
Sir Keir Starmer said that Wales will be a ‘blueprint for what Labour can do across the UK’, yet Labour-run Wales is behind England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in maths, reading and science, in addition to ranking worst in the UK for the fifth time running in PISA 2018 with results lower than the OECD average in every case.
As education standards continue to rise across England, so is support for schools with increased funding for schools in England to the highest ever in real terms per pupil.
Pupil premium funding rates will increase to £1,480 for primary pupils and £1,050 for secondary pupils in 2024-25, an increase of ten per cent since 2021-22.
This funding also includes an extra £440 million investment to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to fund special schools and provide mainstream schools with additional resources to meet the needs of pupils with complex SEND.
After raising the importance of education numerous times in Parliament, Antony Higginbotham MP said:
Over recent years, following record levels of investment and reforms to the way our schools operate, we’ve seen some huge progress in attainment levels.
Teachers should be incredibly proud of what is being achieved in core subjects like Maths, English and Science where we’ve significantly moved up the global rankings. Here in Burnley and Padiham we’re putting in place more opportunities with further education seeing a massive expansion and I want to see that continue.
Education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet when it comes to seeing children in Burnley and Padiham succeed in life. And I’m absolutely determined to push further forward with this record funding boost.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:
Our schools and our teachers are better than ever – and it’s so important that as standards continue to rise, so does our support for schools.
That is why boosting school funding was the first thing I did as Education Secretary, and why I will continue to make sure our brilliant schools and teachers have the tools they need to make sure every child receives a world class education.
I know costs for schools continue to be high, but ensuring schools are funded at their highest level in history in real terms will give parents and schools the confidence that education continues to be the top for this Government.
ENDS
