Our work on education spending

Public funding for adult skills has declined significantly since its peak in the early 2000s.

There have been large and sustained reductions to public spending on classroom-based learning over time.

The new funding rates for the 2024–25 academic year establish a consistent hourly rate, simplifying the funding system.

The proportion of funding directed to higher-level apprenticeships (level 4 and above) has trebled between 2017–18 and 2021–22 from 13% to 39%.

This chart compares the trends in public spending per student on various stages of education over time in England. 

To maintain spending per student at 2025–26 levels, total funding would need to rise by almost £200 million in today's prices by the end of 2027–28.

Rising student numbers and inflationary pressures mean that funding per student has not increased significantly beyond 2019–20 levels. 

Increased funding from the last government only partially offsets the cuts to 16–18 education of the previous decade. 

The lowest-earning 10% of graduates repay around 1.1% of their lifetime earnings, while the highest-earning 10% of graduates repay around 1.2%.

Under the new system, student loans will become cheaper for high-earning graduates and more expensive for those with lower earnings.

Total spending on the free entitlement doubled during the 2000s, and then more than doubled again during the 2010s. 

While spending per place and total spending have doubled since 2009, spending per hour is around 23% higher by 2023–24. 

Recent years have seen a wedge open up between funding rates and provider costs.

Support targeted at workers further up the income distribution has grown from a tenth of the overall pot to a third.

We calculate total school spending as nearly £70 billion in 2024–25.

There has been a significant gap between growth in total school spending per pupil and growth in the core schools budget between 2019–20 and 2024–25.

The gap between secondary and primary school spending has fallen significantly over time.