Commenting on the announcement of increased annual funding for Oak National Academy, to £22.8 million for 2026/27, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"The government cannot plead poverty and shortchange schools on funding the pay offer to teachers, when projects like Oak continue to be kept alive.
"This is another example of government attempting to micromanage from the centre. If the new Prime Minister wants to show a shift away from centralised power, with decision making in hands locally, then moving away from Oak would do that.
"Too much money has already been wasted, and schools simply don't rate what Oak provides. It is a narrow and uninspiring model and should be a thing of the past. We need a clean break and a trust put in schools to use funding to make their own judgements on the teaching materials most likely to benefit young people."