__Menu ![\\"Return](\\"/static/img/ff-logo.a3c246edc83d.png\\"/) Donate * Fact checks ## Fact checks Our fact checking systematically raises standards in public debate and changes the behaviour of powerful actors * All fact checks * Latest * Health * Crime * Education * Climate * Tax * Cost of living * Politics Live * Campaigns ## Campaigns We’re campaigning to tackle bad information online, protect our elections and improve the quality of information in public debate * Campaigns * Follow: WhatsApp * Subscribe: Email * Read: Blog * Asks of the new government * Supporter interventions * Your MP * Policy ## Policy Our policy work aims to improve the information environment, in order to protect and encourage good public debate * Policy * Reports * Framework for information incidents * Research * Letters & submissions * Full Fact AI ## Full Fact AI Our technology and training work is designed to help everyone work faster and smarter * Full Fact AI * Full Fact Training * About Full Fact AI * About ## About Bad information ruins lives. We’re a team of independent fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm it does * Who we are * How we fact check * After we fact check * Our team * Contact us * Jobs * Funding * Independence * Impartiality * Feedback & corrections * FAQs * International networks * Search 1. Education / 2. International education performance # Government school spending figures: correct but misleading 10 October 2018 ##### What was claimed Funding for schools is down by 8% in real terms. ##### Our verdict Correct. The IFS says spending per pupil in England fell by 8% in real terms from 2009/10 to 2017/18, and will be held constant from 2017/18 to 2019/20. ##### What was claimed The OECD has ranked the UK as the third highest for education funding. ##### Our verdict This includes private spending, so isn’t an accurate reflection of government funding. In terms of public spending on education, as a percentage of GDP, the UK ranked joint-fourteenth out of 34 OECD countries that provided data in 2015. Education spending in the UK is devolved. ##### What was claimed The IFS found that real terms per pupil funding in 2020 will be over 50 per cent higher than it was in 2000. ##### Our verdict The IFS says: “The average level of spending per pupil by primary and secondary schools rose by around 5% per year in real terms during the 2000s and was then largely protected in real terms under the coalition government. Spending per pupil fell 4% in real terms between 2015–16 and 2017–18, but will be held constant in real terms up to 2019–20.” ##### What was claimed There is more money going into our schools than ever before—a record £43.5 billion by 2020. ##### Our verdict That’s not a helpful figure as it doesn’t account for inflation or pupil numbers. Spending per pupil in England fell by 8% in real terms from 2009/10 to 2017/18, and will be held constant from 2017/18 to 2019/20. __1 of 4 claims > “there is more money going into our schools than ever before—a record £43.5 > billion by 2020… the IFS found that real terms per pupil funding in 2020 > will be over 50 per cent higher than it was in 2000. It is true to say that > the OECD has ranked the UK as the third highest for education funding… this > includes tertiary and private education for every country.” > > Department for Education, 28 September 2018 (revised) > \"We have consistently argued that funding for schools is down by 8% in real > terms. The National Audit Office agrees, the Institute of Fiscal Studies > agrees, parents can see it is true, as can the electorate.\" > > Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head > Teachers, 3 October 2018 This week, the UK Statistics Authority wrote to the Department for Education expressing “serious concerns” about the Department’s “presentation and use of statistics” about school funding. We’ve written a blog post about the government’s responsibility to use statistics accurately and honestly, and the potential damage to public trust in institutions if it doesn’t do so. But turning away from these broader issues, what’s the reality behind the numbers that the government presented on education spending? Whilst their figures were correct in a narrow technical sense, they were presented out of context, in a way that gives a misleading overall picture. The government claimed that funding for schools will be at a record level by 2020. This is doesn’t factor in inflation, and it also doesn’t consider spending per pupil so it’s not particularly meaningful. Spending per pupil in England fell by 8% in real terms from 2009/10 to 2017/18, and will be held constant from 2017/18 to 2019/20. The government also said that the OECD has ranked the UK as the third highest for education funding. This is correct, but largely meaningless. It includes private spending on education, so doesn’t accurately reflect government spending. In terms of public spending on education, as a percentage of GDP, the UK ranked fourteenth out of 34 OECD countries that provided data in 2015. It should also be noted that education spending is devolved in the UK, so these OECD figures reflect the joint record of each of the four governments in the UK. Honesty in public debate matters You can help us take action – and get our regular free email Sign up ## Schools funding has recently fallen in real terms The government says that more money is going into our schools than ever before, but on its own that doesn’t tell us a huge amount. There will be more pounds in the budget for schools than ever before by 2020, but that doesn’t factor in either inflation (the rise in prices over time), or increases in the number of pupils. These factors mean it might be necessary to increase funding each year just to be able to fund schools to the same standard as before. A better measure of school funding is the amount spent per pupil, adjusted for inflation (also known as “in real terms”). After accounting for inflation, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates that spending per pupil in schools in England fell by 8% from 2009/10 to 2017/18. It adds that spending per pupil will be held constant in real terms from 2017/18 to 2019/20. Elsewhere in the same release from the Department for Education, the government has framed its figures in real terms per pupil, even making reference to the same IFS report we’ve looked at. It says: “The Institute for Fiscal Studies figures show that real terms per pupil funding in 2020 will be more than 50% higher than it was in 2000.” Once again, this is correct but doesn’t tell us much about the record of the current government, as pretty much all of the real terms increase came during the 2000-2010 period. The IFS says: “The average level of spending per pupil by primary and secondary schools rose by around 5% per year in real terms during the 2000s and was then largely protected in real terms under the coalition government. Spending per pupil fell 4% in real terms between 2015–16 and 2017–18, but will be held constant in real terms up to 2019–20.” ## UK spending on education is about average among OECD countries The government also compares its spending on education with that of other countries. In so doing, it supplies yet more correct but unhelpful statistics: “the OECD has ranked the UK as the third highest for education funding” in terms of spending as a percentage of GDP. The data it refers to includes private expenditure (things like university tuition fee loans, and scholarships), so it isn’t an accurate reflection of government spending on education. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a membership organisation consisting of 36 countries “dedicated to economic development”. It includes most EU member states and “many of the world’s most advanced economies”. If we look just at public spending on education, the UK ranked joint- fourteenth out of the 34 OECD countries that supplied data, and is exactly in line with the average level in the OECD (4.2% of GDP). This covers primary to post-secondary education, and refers to the year 2015. It should also be noted that it covers the whole of the UK, whereas the schools spending figures only cover England. As education funding is devolved in the UK, the OECD data reflects the records of the four regional governments.![\\"\\"](\\"/media/uploads/GRAPH_oecd_spending.png\\"/) The UK performs slightly better (sixth out of 25 countries with available data) if you include public-private transfers of funds. Public-private transfers include things like government loans for paying tuition fees, or funding for scholarships. As most of the UK’s public-private investment is in tertiary education (broadly meaning university), it’s likely that most of this comes from loans for university tuition fees, which students have to pay back (although it’s likely that many won’t pay them back in full). Most people probably wouldn’t think of this as public investment in education. * By Joël Reland * Share this: * Twitter * Facebook ## Was this helpful? Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics. Support Full Fact today ### Related fact checks * Are student loan repayments really ‘the cost of a pint of beer’? * Has the percentage of good or outstanding schools risen to 90% under the Conservatives? * ITV Sunak V Starmer Debate: fact checked * BBC Question Time, 30 May: fact checked * Does Conservative London mayoral candidate Susan Hall want to ‘cancel’ free school meals? * Did you find this fact check useful? * Yes No ## Full Fact fights bad information Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better. 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There is more money going into our schools than ever beforea record 435 billion by 2020