A DAMNING study by a coalition of teaching unions has revealed that four in five English schools will be worse off next year than they were in 2015.

New data released today by the School Cuts Coalition, which represents five teaching unions, finds that about 16,000 schools will have less money per pupil in 2020 than in 2015.

Schools in the most deprived areas of the country will lose out the most, the study finds, but vital funding will be lost for children in practically every local authority.

The coalition also estimated that it would take a £2.5 billion investment in schools for the 2020-21 year to reverse the cuts since 2015.

This is despite PM Boris Johnson’s claim in August that school funding would be “levelled up across the entire country” on his watch. He promised there would be “no winners or losers” with funding.

The study was carried out by the National Education Union (NEU), the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), Unison and GMB.

NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “For years, our heads, teachers and school staff have done all they can to mitigate the impact on children.

“But the buck stops with the government. Prime Minister Johnson has made lots of empty promises on school funding – but his numbers don’t add up.

“We are calling on the Prime Minister to put the money where his mouth is and end the funding crisis in education once and for all.”

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner called out Mr Johnson for failing to keep his pledge to reverse Tory education cuts.

“Even worse, it is pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, and the schools that serve the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, that are paying the highest price for the Tories’ broken promises,” she said.

“Not only is day to day funding for schools nowhere close to enough to provide the high quality education our children deserve, but cuts to capital funding mean that school buildings are crumbling and new places aren’t being created where they’re needed.

“Labour will invest in an education system that gives every child the best start in life.”