The chancellor will increase schools’ budget by £2.3 billion next year to support the recruitment of 6,500 new teachers in England.
Rachel Reeves’ pledge also includes a promise to improve school buildings “not fit for our children”.
Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Schools and colleges have suffered from years of under-investment and the additional funding for the core schools budget and further education will only go a small way to addressing the damage that has been done.”
A Treasury document said £1 billion of this funding will go towards supporting the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system.
In her first Budget, Rachel Reeves also promised £1.4 billion to help rebuild schools and £2.1 billion to improve school maintenance to ensure all “children can learn somewhere safe”.
Ms Reeves also pledged an additional £300 million for further education (FE) and a “tripling” of investment in breakfast clubs to give every child “the best possible start to the school day”.
The Chancellor confirmed the Government’s plans to apply VAT to private school fees from January 2025 in her Budget speech.
Ms Harnden said: “We are particularly concerned about the parlous state of post-16 funding and the £300 million that has been announced does not match the Government’s ambition for a major focus on skills.
“We also remain concerned about the introduction of VAT on independent schools in the middle of an academic year, and recommend that the Government undertakes a comprehensive impact assessment of this policy.
“Although there are many things in today’s Budget to be positive about, there is an awful lot more to do, and much of what we have heard represents relatively small spending commitments which do not match the level of investment that the education system requires.”
There were no proposals in the Budget to address significant financial concerns facing universities as a result of frozen tuition fees paid by domestic students and a drop in overseas students.
