Whether she plans to provide additional funding for teachers' pay increases.
The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the core schools budget will total over £64.8 billion compared to almost £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This includes the £2.3 billion announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 and over £930 million being provided to support schools and high needs settings with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025.As set out in the written evidence, the department is expecting schools to be able to fund awards of 2.8% from the funding we are already giving to them. That will mean using a combination of the additional investment announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, alongside making use of their existing funds. The government has been clear that departmental settlements for the 2025/26 financial year will need to fund the next round of public sector pay awards.