Written statement (Wales): Additional Funding to Support Schools - Mar 5

Lynne Neagle, Cabinet Secretary for Education: Through additional funding into the Education Budget and repurposing of existing funding, I am pleased to make available to schools an additional £20m in 2024-25 to support education standards across Wales.

Through continued dialogue with education partners, I understand the scale of the difficulties being faced every day and I am thankful for the hard work of the education workforce across Wales.

In recognition of the pressures our schools are facing, I want to provide as much funding as possible to raise school standards and support our learners to thrive. 

This in-year funding will provide further financial support through our School Standards Grant to help schools and other settings to continue to meet the needs of their learners. The funding package will also provide some additional, more targeted support for schools causing concern, particularly those in special measures, to enable them to make sustainable improvements.

We will work with our partners, including local authorities, schools, Estyn and teaching unions, to ensure this funding makes a difference to learners across Wales.

Through additional in-year funding for 2024-25 and funding included in the Final Budget for 2025-26, the education sector will now be benefitting from an extra £262.5m. This is in addition to the extra £262m going to local authorities through the Revenue Support Grant.

Our decisions to increase funding recognises the pressures identified in our discussions with local authorities, in particular, the powerful points local authority partners and schools have made around pressures in ALN and wider education provision.