Question reference: S6W-19905
- Date lodged: 11 July 2023
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Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 August 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels of education spending per person in Scotland, and on how this compares to levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answer
Estimates of education spending per person for the 2021-22 financial year were published in HM Treasury’s 2022 Country and Regional Analysis. Education spending (including school and higher and further education) per head of population across Scotland, England and Wales is shown in the following table.
Scotland | England | Wales | |
Education spending per person | £1,758 | £1,439 | £1,680 |
Source: Country and regional analysis 2022 , table A.15, HM Treasury, November 2022
More recently, April 2023 research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated that in 2022-23 school spending per pupil was around £1,300, or 18% higher in Scotland than in England and Wales. A side-by-side comparison of this spending is shown in the table below.
Scotland | England | Wales | |
School spending per pupil aged 3-19 | £8,500 | £7,200 | £7,200 |
Source: How does school spending per pupil differ across the UK? , Institute for Fiscal Studies, April 2023