Commenting on a survey conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research on behalf of the Sutton Trust which shows the ‘painful’ cuts facing schools, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"This is the uncomfortable reality that the government simply will not face up to. Schools are running on empty and are having to make cuts to essentials simply to survive.
"The fact is that this has been going on for years. Far from there being 'efficiency' savings to be made, frontline services which are visible to parents are already being cut.
“The government is failing families. It is indefensible that government continues to underfund schools. It is impossible for schools to meet the government's ambitions on SEND support.
“Rachel Reeves has cut more from schools than any Chancellor since George Osborne - delivering the worst funding settlement schools have seen in a decade.
"The government stubbornly believes that a 6.5 per cent pay rise over three years can be afforded from existing budgets. This is nonsense, and no one on the ground is buying it. Schools are being asked to do more with less.
“Rising inflation matched with underfunding is a recipe for disaster. As this survey shows, starving schools of proper funding can only lead to cuts, cuts and more cuts.”