A decade of cuts to school funding
Per-pupil spending in England peaked at £6,720 in 2009–10. By 2018–19 it had fallen to £5,690 — the longest sustained cut to school funding since the 1970s.
Still not recovered
Funding has started to climb back, reaching £6,310 in 2023–24. But in real terms, that is still £410 per pupil — or 6.1% — below the 2010 peak. Schools have fewer teaching assistants, less pastoral support, and tighter budgets than a generation ago.
Britain spends less than its peers
At 4.3% of GDP, UK education spending sits below the OECD average of 4.9%. Norway spends 6.4%, France 5.5%, and even the United States spends 5.1%. Only Japan spends notably less among major economies.
PISA: still above average, but slipping
UK 15-year-olds scored 489 in maths, 494 in reading, and 503 in science in PISA 2022. That’s above the OECD average — but down from 2018 peaks, especially in maths and reading. The post-COVID decline hit nearly every country, but the UK’s trajectory had already been flat for a decade.
GCSE results: a fractured picture
Under the old grading system, the share of pupils achieving 5+ A*–C including English and Maths rose steadily from 44% in 2005 to 59% in 2012 — then the measure changed. Under the new Grade 5+ standard, just 40% of pupils met the bar in 2019.
The COVID distortion
Teacher-assessed grades during 2020–21 pushed pass rates to 52%. Since returning to exams in 2022, results have settled at around 44% — only marginally above where they were when the new grading began. Grade inflation was temporary; the underlying challenge was not.
Teacher vacancies have doubled
The vacancy rate in England’s schools has risen from 0.2% in 2012–13 to 0.6% in 2023 — the highest on record. That might sound small, but it represents thousands of unfilled posts in a system of 468,000 teachers.
More pupils per teacher
Despite modest growth in teacher numbers, the pupil-teacher ratio has hovered around 17.5–18.1 since 2010 — consistently above OECD peers. Rising pupil numbers mean teachers are stretched thinner, with less time per child for individual support.
University participation: a success story, stalling
Higher education participation rose from 38% in 2006–07 to a peak of 55% in 2020–21. The £9,000 fee hike in 2012 caused a brief dip, but demand recovered quickly. Since 2021, however, participation has edged back to 52%.
Grade inflation in degrees
In 2010–11, 15% of graduates received a First. By 2020–21, that had more than doubled to 36%. The share has since pulled back to 30%, but the explosion in top grades has raised serious questions about whether degree classifications still signal real differences in ability.