Education spending Growth in real-terms spending on the free entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds Published on 10 January 2025 While spending per place and total spending have doubled since 2009, spending per hour is around 23% higher by 2023–24. Education and skills Education Childcare and early years
Shaping education funding for the challenges to come event 21 January 2026 at 10:30 The online launch of 2026 IFS Annual Report on Education Spending in England, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
IFS Sure Start research wins ONS Research Excellence Award 2025 announcement We are pleased to announce that our research on the effects of Sure Start on children’s outcomes has been awarded ONS's Impact of Analysis Award. 4 December 2025
Sure Start’s wide-ranging and long-lasting benefits highlight the impact of integrated early years services press release Over the long run, Sure Start’s financial benefits could be twice as high as its costs 22 May 2025
Early years policy: Spending and design presentation Christine Farquharson's presentation to Nursery World Business Summit 11 March 2026
Annual report on education spending in England: 2025–26 report This annual report compares spending across different stages of education in England and analyses the pressures and choices facing policymakers. 21 January 2026
What is the effect of the two-child limit on children’s school readiness? report Despite significantly reducing the benefit entitlements of larger families, the two-child limit had no effect on children’s school readiness 24 September 2025
Effective families or effective schools? Experimental evidence on fostering children’s numeracy working paper We find that strategically concentrating resources on a single binding constraint maximizes the short-run learning gains per dollar spent. 13 May 2026
Unbundling a large-scale school reform: evidence from New York City community schools working paper We study New York City’s Community Schools Initiative using a difference-in-differences design. 8 May 2026
Early childcare attendance and cognitive skills in adolescence working paper This paper examines the impact of early childcare on academic achievement for children in grade 5 and grade 9, based on a 2003 policy expansion. 21 April 2026
