The funding of English primary education

Abstract

In this chapter we examine the funding of primary education in England. We identify how much money is spent by schools on primary education per pupil and how this has changed in recent years. We also examine how that level of expenditure compares with per pupil expenditure on secondary level education. We then describe the funding arrangements that underlie this level of expenditure and, in particular, describe the changes in that funding system, noting the importance of historical patterns of expenditure in determining current allocations and also the recent shift to central control over expenditure on primary (and secondary) education. We go on to describe the scale of variation between local education authorities1 (LEAs) in the balance of budget allocations per pupil between primary and secondary education. In the penultimate section, we compare figures for the UK with those relating to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in the level of expenditure per pupil in primary education, the proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on primary education and the balance of funding between primary and secondary education. The final section concludes the chapter.