The Conservative Government is providing schools in the Forest of Dean with over £2 million, as part of £2 billion this year and next for primary schools and secondary schools across England, the highest spending on schools in history.
Every state school in England will receive extra cash. A typical primary school will receive an extra £35,000 and a typical secondary will receive £200,000.
In total the schools budget will be £58.8 billion in 2024–2025, with the Conservative Government putting more funding into schools than ever before and school funding is set to rise faster than forecast inflation in both 2023–24 and 2024–25.
Schools received their first payment by 10 May 2023 and will be able to choose how best to invest the extra funding, including to pay for teacher salary uplifts and teaching assistants. The remainder of the £2 billion will be used to increase Pupil Premium funding rates, which are rising by five per cent in 2023–24.
The Education Secretary’s 4.5 per cent pay offer for teachers next year, alongside a £1,000 one off payment, is fully funded when combined with the additional £620 million of funding provided as part of that offer.
This extra funding comes at the same time as the Government is providing £500 million for energy efficiency upgrades for schools and colleges and levelling up plans have been put in place to target investment, support and action in the 55 areas across the country where school outcomes are the weakest. Our £1 billion School Rebuilding Programme is also building new and improved facilities for 400 schools.
This Conservative Government is providing a world-class education and delivering opportunity for all – wherever they come from and whatever their background.
Our students here in the Forest of Dean have benefited from this Government’s investment in schools in recent years with, for example, the new Dene Magna Sixth Form / Gloucestershire College site. Our local students continue to seize the opportunities presented to them and do us proud like during a recent visit to the Forest by HRH The Princess Royal during which Five Acres High School pupils met and sang for the Princess in Coleford, and Forest High School pupils met her at the AccXel Centre in Cinderford.
This article was first published in The Forester newspaper.
