The £600 billion problem awaiting the next government podcastWe speak to David Gauke and Giles Wilkes, two experts who have been at the heart of the spending review process.25 April 2024
Be the Chancellor Our interactive tool lets you be the Chancellor. Change spending plans, set tax policies and see how your choices impact borrowing and debt.
Should we worry about government debt? podcastDavid Miles joins us to discuss high government debt and its impact on the economy. 11 April 2024
IFS Annual Lecture - Innovation and productivity policies: a budgetary perspective event 15 May 2024 Professor Heidi Williams (Dartmouth College) will deliver the 2024 IFS Annual Lecture on innovation and productivity policies.
Higher Education Access and Funding: challenges and policy options conference 14 May 2024 This one-day academic conference will look at access to and funding of Higher Education systems.
Jobs landing pageAt IFS, we recruit and train top-quality economists and professional support staff. We aim to foster a respectful and inclusive working environment.20 July 2022
Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy The Research Centre at the heart of IFS is the CPP.
Scottish Budget 2024–25collectionRead all our analysis of the Scottish Budget for 2024–25.22 February 2024
Scottish Budget 2023–24collectionRead all our analysis of the Scottish Budget for 2023–24.14 February 2023
Scottish election 2021collectionWe published a range of Scottish Election Briefing Notes on tax, benefits and public spending, co-funded by the Scottish Policy Foundation.6 May 2021
Oil and gas make Scotland’s underlying public finances particularly volatile and uncertaincommentA fallback in oil and gas prices has hit Scotland’s underlying public finance position this year.27 March 2024
Health spending planned to fall in England and Scotland in 2024–25, suggesting a top-up likelycommentDay-to-day spending on health in England is planned to fall in 2024–25 compared with the latest budgets for 2023–24.4 March 2024
The IFS Scottish Budget Report – 2024–25reportThis report looks at the key budgetary and public service issues for the Scottish Government for the 2024–25 financial year and beyond.22 February 2024
Top-ups to the Scottish Budget for 2024–25 are likely – but huge uncertainty on their scale commentMore funding to top up the Scottish Government’s 2024–25 spending plans is likely to become available – but just how much is highly uncertain.22 February 2024
Scottish Budget 2024-25: IFS analysispresentationAhead of the final Scottish Parliament vote on the Budget, IFS researchers presented their analysis of the proposals.22 February 2024
Student finance calculator - ScotlandcalculatorThis calculator produces rough estimates of the costs and distributional consequences of reforms to the higher education funding system in Scotland.20 February 2024
Scottish Budget: Higher education spendingreportHow much does the Scottish Government spend on higher education, and what challenges does it face on university funding and living cost support?20 February 2024
Scottish Government boosts support for students’ living costs, but further cuts funding for universities to teach them press releaseHow much does the Scottish Government spend on higher education, and what challenges does it face on university funding and living cost support? 20 February 2024
Scottish Budget: Healthcare spending, staffing and activityreportThe COVID-19 pandemic is having long-lasting impacts on NHS hospital activity, productivity and performance in Scotland, despite higher funding.9 February 2024
Scottish Budget: The medium-term outlook and choicesreportDevolved income tax revenues are forecast to boost the Scottish Government’s funding over the next five years, but many services could still see cuts.6 February 2024
Scottish Budget implies real-terms cuts to health spending – a fact not revealed in official documentationpress releaseThe Scottish Government is raising taxes on the 5% highest-income Scots, but health funding is, on current plans, set to fall in real terms next year.6 February 2024
How to fix our irrational income tax systempodcastHow are income taxes structured, how has this changed, where are there problems with the system and what should the next government be looking to fix?25 January 2024
Scottish Budget – further analysis of the Scottish Government’s spending decisionscommentWe look at the Budget for 2024–25 and the latest spending and funding figures for the current financial year.20 December 2023
Initial IFS response to the Scottish Budget commentOur initial response to the Scottish Government’s budget for next year.19 December 2023
Scottish universities and students are under pressure – and so is the Scottish budgetcommentThe Scottish Government is boosting support for students’ living costs, but funding for teaching, down 19% since 2013–14, is likely to fall further.14 December 2023
Socio-economic inequality in Scottish educationreportWe examine how less affluent students perform compared with their more affluent peers in PISA tests, ahead of the new data release in December 2023.16 November 2023
Declining education performance in Scotland, particularly in maths and sciencepress releaseThe performance of Scottish pupils in international PISA tests has declined over time in maths and science. 16 November 2023
School and neighbourhood segregation in Scotland and EnglandreportWe document the patterns of neighbourhood and secondary school segregation across England and Scotland10 October 2023
Schools and segregation: a comparison of Scotland and EnglandcommentWe study how the different ways pupils are assigned to schools in England and Scotland relate to income segregation in schools and neighbourhoods.10 October 2023
The outlook for government and council fundingpresentationThis presentation to Scottish voluntary organisations looks at the funding outlook and issues facing the Scottish Government and councils.5 October 2023
Scottish council tax proposals are a small step in the right direction but duck the biggest issue: revaluationcommentProposed reforms to council tax in Scotland would further reduce regressivity but should go further, and the issue of revaluation is ducked yet again. 11 September 2023
Higher oil & gas revenues boost Scotland’s underlying fiscal position – but a big deficit remainscommentScotland’s notional fiscal deficit fell by £6 billion (3.8% of GDP) in 2022–23, but was – and is set to remain – much higher than the UK’s. 16 August 2023
Employment, earnings and incomes in ScotlandreportHow have employment, earnings and incomes performed in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK? What drives geographic inequalities within Scotland?9 August 2023
An immediate response to the Scottish Fiscal Framework reviewcommentThe revised Scottish Fiscal Framework will continue to redistribute income tax revenues from England and provides a little more financial flexibility.2 August 2023
Earnings and income inequality in ScotlandpresentationThis presentation to the Royal Society of Edinburgh provides an early preview of upcoming work on labour market trends and inequalities in Scotland.28 June 2023
An immediate response to the Scottish Government’s MTFScommentUpdated funding and spending projections show a significant funding gap looming for the Scottish Government – and little sense of how to address it.25 May 2023
How does school spending per pupil differ across the UK?reportThis short report compares the level of school spending per pupil across the four nations of the UK.21 April 2023
Lower oil and gas prices set to hit Scotland’s underlying public finances commentScotland’s underlying fiscal position is set to improve by much less than expected last year, as oil and gas prices fall back. 3 April 2023
