This Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has channelled significant funding into education to achieve that.

The Autumn Statement in November 2022 announced that there would be an additional £2 billion of funding in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25, over and above totals announced at the 2021 Spending Review. In July 2023, the Department announced a further £525 million of funding in 2023/23, to support schools with the teachers’ pay award, and £900 million in 2024/25. This means funding for mainstream schools and high needs is over £3.9 billion higher in 2023/24 alone, compared to 2022/23, on top of a £4 billion cash increase last year. That represents a 16% increase in just two years.

In 2024/25, school funding will be more than £59.6 billion, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil, as measured by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

This additional funding will enable head teachers to continue to spend in the areas that the Department knows positively impact educational attainment, including high quality teaching and targeted support to the children who need it most.

The Department has also increased overall funding for 16 to 19 education, with an extra £1.6 billion of funding provided in the 2024/25 financial year compared with 2021/22, which is the biggest increase in 16 to 19 funding in a decade.

16 to 19 funding has seen significant recent increases. In January 2023, the Department announced funding of £125 million for the 2023/24 financial year. In July 2023, the Department announced a further £185 million for the 2023/24 financial year and £285 million for the 2024/25 financial year.

This funding will help colleges and other 16 to 19 providers to address key priorities as they see fit, including tackling recruitment and retention issues in high value technical, vocational and academic provision which are of critical importance to economic growth and prosperity.

Department officials and Ministers continue to meet regularly with education and childcare sector leaders, unions and other representative bodies to discuss a wide range of early years, school, further education and higher education policy issues.

The schools National Funding Formula (NFF) calculates an allocation for every school, based on their individual pupil and school characteristics. The table below shows the average funding per pupil allocated through the NFF for England over the past five years. Per pupil funding excludes growth funding and individual schools’ actual allocations are based on Local Authorities’ local funding formulae.

The national funding rate per student for 16 to 19-year-olds and young people aged up to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is the same for all institution types.

The table below shows the national funding rate for the last five academic years for a full-time student aged 16 to 19 and young people aged up to 25 with SEND.

The increase to the national funding rate for the 2022/23 academic year includes funding to roll in the Teachers’ Pay Grant with an equivalent uplift for other institutions, funding for the additional hours policy, and an affordable increase for inflation. Details related to the 2022/23 funding rate are available in published guidance, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-information-for-2022-to-2023. Rates for all funding bands are published annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-rates-and-formula.

The Department’s guidance states that it is important that schools or colleges, when open, ensure that they are well ventilated and that a comfortable teaching environment is maintained. This can be achieved by a variety of measures including using mechanical ventilation systems and/or natural ventilation, such as opening windows. In all cases, actions should be taken to encourage fresh air into the building, whilst striking a balance with thermal comfort. The guidance for schools can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak and the guidance for further education colleges can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision.

The Department continues to review the ventilation requirements set out in the guidance, including considering whether monitoring carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels would be appropriate, and we are working with Public Health England and ventilation experts on a pilot project to measure CO₂ levels in typical classrooms.

The Department continues to keep the protective measures under review based on the latest scientific evidence and advice as this continues to evolve.

The Department has encouraged examination boards to set their fees appropriately based on the costs involved with alternative arrangements in 2021. The Department worked at pace with Ofqual to provide clarity to examination boards, and the wider sector, on how alternative arrangements to examinations in 2021 would work.

Examination boards are responsible for setting their examination fees. Although examinations did not take place this summer, examination boards are incurring a range of costs as part of their processes that will lead to the awarding of qualifications. Examination boards need to cover these costs, and they will make commercial decisions on fees and refunds on that basis.

Examination boards have stated that they do not intend to profit from any reduction in their costs this year. Statements from individual examination boards can be accessed on their websites. Given the unusual circumstances this year, it is not possible for them to have certainty about their 2021 costs in advance. It is for individual examination boards to publish any details on costings and rebate arrangements.

The Department appreciates the continued and significant efforts made by schools and their staff to keep schools open this term. Returning to school full time has been vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing and has rightly been a national priority. Latest figures show that over 99% of state-funded schools are open.

The Department published guidance to support schools to welcome back all children full time. The guidance can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Schools have also continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in 2020-21, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20. This includes an additional £780 million this year and £730 million next year for high needs, taking total high needs funding to over £8 billion. As stated in our guidance, schools should use their existing resources, including these funding increases, when making arrangements to support children this term.

Ministers and officials continue to engage regularly with school leaders and their representatives on a wide range of issues around COVID-19, including discussions in relation to costs faced by schools at this time.

The Department also recognises the great efforts made by further education (FE) colleges and their staff to keep colleges open this term, and the financial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the sector. We have protected grant funding to the FE sector, worth over £3 billion, for a full year through paying scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year and paying allocations for 2020/21 in line with the national profile. This year, the Department has increased investment in education and training of 16-19 year olds by £400 million, including an increased base rate, and more funding for high cost and high value subjects. We have also brought forward £200 million of the £1.5 billion for capital funding in colleges. For other providers with Education, Skills and Funding Agency contracts, we set up a Provider Relief Scheme.

For colleges in significant financial difficulties, the existing support arrangements remain in place, including short-term emergency funding. The Department adapted and opened the College Collaboration Fund to support colleges to respond to current challenges, and we have announced the 20 colleges whose bids were successful on GOV.UK.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced an extensive and unprecedented package of support measures for businesses and employees. FE colleges can apply to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for non-grant-funded employees, which has been extended until March 2021.

The Department is working closely with colleges to monitor the financial impacts of COVID-19 and ensure that any colleges facing financial difficulties are able to access relevant support. Financial forecasts for the current year were submitted by colleges in July, and updated cashflow projections are due to be provided this month.

Students who are considering taking autumn exams should speak with their school or college and discuss their next best step.

The majority of students will now have the grades they need to move on to their next step. Those who did not receive a grade or who are unhappy with their grade will have the opportunity to take exams in the autumn. The Department have published guidance which makes it clear that they expect the school or college that entered students for the summer series to enter them for autumn if they want to sit exams. The Government is clear that given the unique circumstances in which the autumn exams are being run, students and their families should not have to meet the cost of fees if they want to enter.

So that schools and colleges have the support they need to run the additional autumn series, the Department is launching an Exam Support Service. Through this service, schools and colleges can book fully funded additional space to run exams if needed to avoid disruption to teaching. They will also be able to claim back for costs relating to autumn exam fees or invigilation where these exceed any savings they have made in those areas following the cancellation of summer exams. £30 million has been earmarked to deliver this support, although funding will be demand led and driven by the number of students who choose to sit the exams.

Further details can be found in our published guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/responsibility-for-autumn-gcse-as-and-a-level-exam-series.

We are committed to supporting all children and young people to make up for time spent out of education. We’re giving colleges the flexibility to offer a combination of face-to-face and online delivery to more of their students and apprentices and we know that remote education has been working well for many students in post-16 education.

We will continue to work with the sector to establish the best methods of supporting students to make up for disruption due to COVID-19.

As per the ‘Central Government Supply Estimates 2018-19: Supplementary Estimates’, resource funding for programmes by Estimate Line is disclosed in the attached table. This information is supplemented by additional information contained in the ‘Supplementary Estimate Memorandum’ published by the Education Select Committee.

For programmes covered by capital funding in the '2018-19 Supplementary Estimate', the Department is investing £23 billion in the school estate in the current Spending Review period (2016-17 to 2020-21) to deliver new school places, rebuild or refurbish buildings in the worst condition and deliver thousands of condition projects across the school estate. Details on 2018-19 school’s capital budgets is available at Annex D of the ‘Supplementary Estimate Memorandum 2018-19’.

In addition to the Department’s investment in school’s capital, the Department also funds capital projects in other sectors, including higher education, further education, and children’s social care.

As per the ‘Central Government Supply Estimates 2018-19: Supplementary Estimates’, resource funding for programmes by Estimate Line is disclosed in the attached table. This information is supplemented by additional information contained in the ‘Supplementary Estimate Memorandum’ published by the Education Select Committee.

For programmes covered by capital funding in the '2018-19 Supplementary Estimate', the Department is investing £23 billion in the school estate in the current Spending Review period (2016-17 to 2020-21) to deliver new school places, rebuild or refurbish buildings in the worst condition and deliver thousands of condition projects across the school estate. Details on 2018-19 school’s capital budgets is available at Annex D of the ‘Supplementary Estimate Memorandum 2018-19’.

In addition to the Department’s investment in school’s capital, the Department also funds capital projects in other sectors, including higher education, further education, and children’s social care.

Educational institutions in my constituency have lost more than £1.3 million in the past three financial years as a result of the Government’s decision to redirect the underspend in the 16 to 19 education budget away from sixth-form students. Can the Minister confirm whether the review of funding of tertiary education that was promised by the Prime Minister will investigate that underspend and look at returning it to schools and colleges?

The executive member for children on Leeds City Council wrote to me today after writing to the Secretary of State on 28 September about health and safety issues in local education authority schools, including schools that are trying to become academies. The response from the Department was about the condition improvement fund for academies, so I am going to ask again: what funding and support are available for LEA schools with serious health and safety concerns, including concerns about asbestos and fire safety? What funding is the Secretary of State going to provide for those schools?

Sawtry Village Academy in my constituency is in serious financial difficulty, not least because of the activities of its former head, which included building a sex dungeon alongside his office for his private use. That headteacher is now in prison, but the financial difficulties of the school remain. Will the Minister kindly agree to meet me and representatives of the school to discuss the way forward?

Can the Minister confirm that the Budget actually cut education capital funding by £1 billion in this spending review, and that part of that cut involves removing more than three quarters of the healthy pupils capital programme? Perhaps he recalls the Government’s pledge earlier this

year that the healthy pupils fund would not fall below £415 million, regardless. Will he now apologise for breaking that promise?

This Government will continue to work to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded. The core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010 and is set to rise from £41 billion in 2017-18 to over £42 billion in 2019-20 with increasing pupil numbers.

With regard to further education, the Chancellor announced, in the 2017 spring budget, a substantial investment in technical education for 16-19 year olds, rising eventually to an additional £500 million a year. At the same time, we will continue to protect the national funding rate for full time 16 and 17-year-olds in all types of institutions at £4,000. Schools and colleges also receive additional funding to reflect increased costs, including for disadvantaged students, higher cost technical courses, and large academic programmes.