In the election campaign, the Conservatives set out a powerful vision for education, one that will level up opportunities across the country. At its heart is a drive to secure the highest standards in every aspect of our education system, supporting early years providers, schools and colleges to ensure that all children have the opportunity to thrive.
As we promised in our manifesto, we are levelling up funding across the country to ensure that all schools have the right investment to deliver an outstanding education. The additional investment will allow for a cash increase of £2.6bn to core schools funding from April 2020, with increases of £4.8bn and £7.1bn in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively, compared to 2019-20. Our investment also includes an additional £780m in 2020-21 to support children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) – an increase of 12% compared to 2019-20.
The Government are also confirming that, at a minimum, every secondary school will receive at least £5,000 per pupil and every primary school will receive at least £3,750 per pupil next year, which will rise to £4,000 per pupil the following year.
Conservatives in Government are putting more money into improving education and it is great to see that the Forest of Dean is benefitting from this. Our local secondary schools and primary schools will attract an average of £5,312 and £4,865 respectively per pupil in 2020-21.
To ensure that all schools fully benefit from this pledge, the Government will lay regulations later this month to ensure local authorities pass on these minimum per pupil funding levels to schools. As well as supporting the lowest funded schools, this marks an important step towards a ‘hard’ national funding formula – where schools’ budgets are set on the basis of a single, national formula.
The Conservatives now have a clear mandate for our reforms to make changes to transform the lives and opportunities of a generation of children and young people. I will continue to work closely with my colleagues in Government, as well as local teachers, school governors and parents to ensure that all Forest of Dean pupils are able to reach their full potential.