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Tory austerity is subjecting over 16,500 schools to draconian budget cuts, unions warn

MORE than 16,500 schools face draconian cuts to their budgets because of Tory austerity, with those in deprived areas the worst-hit, six unions warned today.

All involved in education and part of the School Cuts Coalition, they analysed the government’s own statistics and found that 83 per cent of schools will receive less funding in 2020 than they did in 2015.

In spite of PM Boris Johnson’s boasts of “levelling up” educational inequalities, 16,523 schools will face budget cuts in April 2020.

The average cut per pupil is £245 for a primary school child and £304 for those in secondary education, according to their analysis.

However, in primaries serving the most deprived areas, cuts per pupil average £382 a year, compared with £125 for those in the most affluent areas.

Similarly, at the most deprived secondary schools cuts per pupil average £509 a year, compared with £117 at the most affluent.

The School Cuts Coalition is formed of the National Education Union (NEU), Association of School and College Leaders, National Association of Head Teachers, Unite, Unison and GMB.

NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “Parents, teachers and school leaders need no lectures on the impact of the school funding crisis.

“It is galling for everyone in the education community that the government continues to underfund and under-deliver on their responsibility to the nation’s schools.”

Unison’s head of education Jon Richards said: “The overwhelming majority of schools are now significantly poorer.”

The unions have launched a website that includes an interactive map to enable parents to identify how their children’s schools are affected. Visit: https://schoolcuts.org.uk/

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