NASUWT - The Teachers’ Union is warning that schools are being driven into another cycle of damaging cuts after new research published today by the Sutton Trust highlighted the continued erosion of staffing, SEND provision and curriculum opportunities in schools in England.
The findings reinforce the picture set out in the NASUWT’s Where Has All The Money Gone? report and reveal a school system still struggling with the consequences of a decade and a half of real‑terms funding cuts, rising costs and unfunded pressures on schools.
Despite claims of increased investment by ministers, schools continue to report reductions in teaching posts, teaching assistants, support staff, subject choices and specialist support for pupils with SEND. Many school leaders also continue to divert Pupil Premium funding away from disadvantaged pupils simply to keep their schools running.
Matt Wrack, NASUWT General Secretary, said:
“School budgets are already cut to the bone yet still teachers and schools staff are being lost, support for pupils with SEND is being stripped back, and opportunities for children are narrowing.
“The Government talks about increases in school funding but the reality is that inflation, rising needs and unfunded pressures have wiped out any gains. Schools cannot deliver world-class education on slashed budgets.
“It is deeply concerning that school leaders are still being pushed into using the Pupil Premium to plug holes elsewhere in their budgets. This money is meant to support the most disadvantaged pupils, yet it is being diverted because the core funding system is failing.
“Teachers and support staff are already stretched to breaking point. Further cuts will only increase workload, deepen the recruitment and retention crisis and undermine the Government’s own ambitions on SEND, attainment and inclusion.”
