Government's spending promises for education

After nearly three months in power, we take a look at the Labour government's promises for the education sector, as well as what funding has been pledged.

From recruiting more teachers, to investing in school mental health professionals, Labour's manifesto made a number of promises for the education sector, with most policies said to be funded by ending the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools. We break down the pledges and investigate how much funding has been set aside.

Recruiting teachers

Labour’s manifesto pledged to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers, including to fill shortage subjects, support areas that face recruitment challenges, and tackle retention issues.

£450 million has been earmarked for this pledge, which will come from ending tax breaks for private schools.

Analysis has suggested that the government could use a combination of pay rises and financial incentives to fulfil this promise.

To improve the school workforce, the Labour Government has set aside £270 million for increased teacher and headteacher training.

Free Breakfast Clubs

Another of Labour's proposals is to fund free breakfast clubs in every primary school, which it says will support parents through the cost-of-living crisis and offer more childcare options.

Labour’s manifesto committed to spending £315 million on breakfast clubs in 2028–29, with the money coming from closing further non-dom tax loopholes and reducing tax avoidance.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies highlights that the term ‘breakfast club’ can mean different things. At its simplest, it refers to the provision of breakfast integrated into the usual school day, typically in the classroom at the start of the first lesson. A more traditional breakfast club, however, provides a space for pupils to eat breakfast and socialise before the school day begins, also acting as childcare for parents.

Labour’s manifesto has not given details on what model they will use.

Mental health support

Access to specialist mental health professionals in every school was also promised in the Labour manifesto, with £175 million worth of funding set aside. This is so that every young person can address problems before they escalate.

The government also wants to develop a national network of Young Futures hubs to bring local services together, deliver support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges and, where appropriate, deliver universal youth provision. £95 million has been earmarked for this programme.

Further education

Labour has said it will bring forward a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education, which guarantees training, an apprenticeship, or help to find work for all 18- to 21-year-olds.

Labour has said it will transform Further Education colleges into specialist Technical Excellence Colleges. These colleges will work with businesses, trade unions, and local government to provide young people with better job opportunities and the highly trained workforce that local economies need.

The Labour manifesto says it will establish Skills England to bring together business, training providers and unions with national and local government to ensure to country has the workforce it needs to deliver the government's Industrial Strategy.

There were also pledges to transform the Apprenticeships Levy to create a flexible Growth and Skills Levy, with Skills England consulting on eligible courses to ensure qualifications offer value for money.

Labour's fiscal plan says that £85 million will go towards "delivering work experience and careers advice for all young people", although it is unsure if this figure will cover all its pledges for post-16 education.

More nursery schools

The Labour manifesto has said it will use £35 million to create over three thousand new nursery classes across England, using spare school classrooms. This is part of the government's plan for more childcare and better early education.

It has also earmarked £5 million on early language development in primary schools.

Ofsted Reform

Labour has made it clear that it would reform the current Ofsted grading system following the death of a headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life in January due in part to a downgraded Ofsted report.

A number of reforms have already been announced under the new chief inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, including the scraping of single headline grades for schools and the introduction of School Report Cards coming from September 2025.

Labour's manifesto has set aside £45 million for these reforms.

The arts and sport

Labour will support children to study a creative or vocational subject until they are 16, and will get more children active by protecting time for physical education, and supporting the role grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport. No mention of how this will be funding has been released however.

Funding allocations can be found on Labour's fiscal plan here.