The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has delivered the Labour Party’s first Budget since 2010. We have responded to the various key education measures in the Budget Statement today.

Responding to the Budget Statement overall, Carl Cullinane, Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, said:

“We welcome today’s real terms increase in the education budget, including confirmation of increased funding for core school budgets, significant capital funding for schools, as well as SEND provision and the breakfast clubs rollout. This should be the first step towards a reprioritisation of education, children and families in government spending. It’s also positive to see increases to the national minimum wage and apprenticeship minimum wage, as well as boosting the minimum wage for young people.

“However, this Budget represents a missed chance to genuinely break down barriers to opportunity by tackling educational inequality and genuinely improving opportunities for those from the poorest homes. This means rebalancing funding back towards schools in the most disadvantaged areas, setting out a clear plan to tackle the attainment gap in schools between the most and least disadvantaged pupils, extending quality early years education to the poorest families, and bringing back maintenance grants for students struggling with their finances.”

Responding to today’s early years measures, Carl Cullinane, Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, said:

“While maintaining the previous government’s expansion of funded childcare hours, the government has yet to take steps to equalise access to government funded hours in early education and childcare. The ongoing expansion of these additional hours isn’t available to most low-income families, despite their children being the most likely to benefit from this support.

“If the government really wants to give every child the best start in life, the Early Years Pupil Premium should be increased towards the same level as primary schools, benefiting up to 240,000 disadvantaged children. And while it’s positive to see continued funding for family hubs, given the strong evidence for the previous Labour government’s Sure Start programme, there is a need for additional support for families with very young children in the most deprived areas. The government should roll out at least 350 new Sure Start-style facilities over the next two years, targeted at the most deprived areas to benefit up to 280,000 young children and their families.”

Responding to today’s schools measures, Carl Cullinane, Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, said:

“We welcome today’s confirmation of increased funding for core budgets in schools and FE colleges, significant capital funding for schools, increased SEND provision and the school breakfast clubs rollout.

“However, this Budget represents a missed opportunity to set out a clear strategy for closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged pupils. What is vital is how this money is spent. It’s time that action is taken to rebalance funding towards schools in the most deprived areas, reinstating the National Tutoring Programme, and extending free school meals to all families in receipt of Universal Credit, to take hunger out of the classroom.”

Responding to today’s lack of higher education measures, Carl Cullinane, Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, said:

“The lack of clarity on future higher education funding is concerning. Many students are struggling with the rising cost of living, with over a quarter skipping meals to save on food costs. Student maintenance levels haven’t increased with inflation for several years, increasing maintenance support and re-introducing the maintenance grant for students who need it is long-overdue.

“The government has clearly identified the need to increase the national minimum wage due to cost of living pressures, so why does student maintenance remain inadequate?”

Responding to today’s apprenticeships measures, Carl Cullinane, Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, said:

“Today’s funding for further education and foundation apprenticeships is welcome, but represents a drop in the ocean in terms of drastically increasing the number of apprenticeships available, particularly those targeted at young people. The government needs to kickstart supply, by re-introducing employer incentives for creating new apprenticeship opportunities for young people, and ringfencing at least 50% of big companies’ levy funds for apprentices under 25.

“If today’s Budget was about setting the scene for the rest of this parliament, it was a missed opportunity to create significantly more opportunities for young people. The new Skills England must take up this baton in the coming years.”

Responding to today’s employment announcements, Carl Cullinane, Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, said:

“We welcome today’s measures to increase the national minimum wage and apprenticeship minimum wage, as well as moves towards creating a single adult national minimum wage rate by boosting young people’s earnings. However, we are still left waiting for clarity on how the apprenticeship levy will be reformed, as it represents a potential tool to increase opportunities for young people. The government must follow through on its promise to ban unpaid internships, as well as enacting the Socio-Economic Duty Clause of the Equality Act.”

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