Education spending Total school spending per pupil by component (2024–25 prices) Published on 10 January 2025 We calculate total school spending as nearly £70 billion in 2024–25. Education and skills Education Schools
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.
Are the kids ok? The school years podcast From attainment to absences, SEND to well-being, we assess the state of England’s schools and the Opportunity Mission’s promise to level the field. 21 August 2025
What should be done about student debt in England? comment There have been increasing calls for reform of Plan 2 student loans, but there are no easy options for the Chancellor. 17 April 2026
An emerging cross-party consensus on plans for Welsh schools comment This comment compares the political parties’ main proposals for schools in Wales at the upcoming 2026 Welsh elections. 24 April 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
Demographic change and schools across the UK: lessons from history report Pupil numbers are falling rapidly across the UK. This report analyses the choices facing policymakers and past declines in pupil numbers. 5 December 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
Parents in the classroom: strengthening government capacity to deliver early childhood education working paper This paper evaluates a scalable model that engages parents to improve early learning in contexts where both schools and homes are constrained. 5 February 2026
