Education Spending
£120.8bn across schools, further education, and higher education, at both central and local level. This figure is well supported — it closely matches the Institute for Fiscal Studies' own independent calculation.
How this actually works
This figure covers spending across all stages of education — schools, 16-19 further education and apprenticeships, and higher education — at both central government and local authority level, across the whole UK. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, which produces the most detailed independent annual analysis of UK education spending, calculated total public education spending at £122bn for 2024-25 (in 2025-26 prices) — almost exactly matching this site's £120.8bn figure. Notably, the IFS also found that total education spending has actually fallen by around 10% (£14bn) since 2010-11 once inflation is accounted for, and as a share of national income has dropped from about 5.6% to about 4.1% over the same period — mostly reflecting a shift in the cost of higher education from general taxation onto graduates via student loans, rather than a straightforward funding cut across the board.
Other figures you'll see reported
You'll see different numbers for this in different places. Here's why, so you're not left thinking one of them is simply wrong.
UK-wide, all stages of education, central and local government combined.
The most detailed independent annual analysis available — closely matches this site's figure.