The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes, and it is particularly important for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). High-quality teachers exist everywhere across the system, including in single-form primaries.

To ensure that all teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND, we are investing £200 million of new funding to upskill staff and promote inclusive practice. In addition, we are investing £1.8 billion for local area partnerships to develop and deliver an Experts at Hand offer to mainstream settings, including small and single-form entry primary schools. They will have access to specialist education and health professionals who will work alongside staff to build capacity, support earlier intervention and strengthen inclusive practise.

The department is also providing £1.6 billion of additional funding to mainstream settings through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund, to help settings identify commonly occurring needs and take meaningful steps to improve everyday support. We have published guidance to support schools to develop their initial inclusion strategies, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-support-for-school-leaders/developing-an-inclusion-strategy-using-the-inclusive-mainstream-fund.

We are also proposing to introduce new National Inclusion Standards to set out what ordinarily-available provision should be in every setting across the 0 to 25 system, as well as the evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with SEND.

The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities.

All schools have benefited from the increase to core funding allocated through the schools national funding formula (NFF) in the 2026/27 financial year, including the NFF lump sum, which is set at £152,700. The lump sum is particularly beneficial to small schools more reliant on an element of funding that is not driven by pupil numbers.

The sparsity factor in the NFF provides additional support for schools that are small and remote. Eligible primary schools attract up to £58,600 in sparsity funding in the 2026/27 financial year.

We recognise the pressures caused by demographic changes in some areas. The lagged funding system, where schools are funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels, to aid their planning, and is particularly important in giving schools with falling rolls time to re-organise their staffing and costs.

The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities.

All schools have benefited from the increase to core funding allocated through the schools national funding formula (NFF) in the 2026/27 financial year, including the NFF lump sum, which is set at £152,700. The lump sum is particularly beneficial to small schools more reliant on an element of funding that is not driven by pupil numbers.

The sparsity factor in the NFF provides additional support for schools that are small and remote. Eligible primary schools attract up to £58,600 in sparsity funding in the 2026/27 financial year.

We recognise the pressures caused by demographic changes in some areas. The lagged funding system, where schools are funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels, to aid their planning, and is particularly important in giving schools with falling rolls time to re-organise their staffing and costs.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. Measures are in place to limit and reduce class sizes, particularly for younger children. Legislation caps the size of an infant class at 30 pupils per qualified teacher. Infant classes are those in which most pupils turn five, six, or seven during the school year. Current data shows the average infant class size is 26.2 pupils, a decrease of 0.4 compared with the previous year.

There is no statutory limit on class sizes for older children aged eight and above. Schools have the flexibility to organise these classes according to local needs and circumstances, ensuring pupils receive the support they need to achieve and thrive. The average primary class size, covering both infant and junior classes, is 26.4 pupils, down by 0.2 from last year.

These trends, alongside the statutory infant class limit, demonstrate that current measures are helping to keep class sizes manageable in primary schools.

Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Hampshire is receiving £1.1 billion for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year. That is equivalent to £6,031 per pupil (excluding growth and falling rolls funding), which is an increase of 2.4% per pupil compared to 2024/25.

On top of the DSG funding, the department is providing additional funding to support schools with increases to employer National Insurance Contributions, and the costs of the teacher and local government support staff pay awards in 2025/26.

The department provides a suite of free tools, guidance and support to help schools better manage their budgets. Schools are already bringing core operating costs down through initiatives such as our new ‘Energy for Schools’ offer. Additionally, they can access services such as the ‘Get Help Buying for Schools’ service to get best value when procuring goods and our ‘Teaching Vacancies Service’ to save recruitment costs.

Special schools are specially organised to support pupils with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The provision required will be specified in the pupils’ education, health and care plans, which the responsible local authority is statutorily required to secure.

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review, working with parents, young people and providers.

Decisions about how to organise provision within a special school is for the headteacher to determine. Special schools will use a variety of staff deployment and grouping models based on the varied needs of their children.

The department is providing schools with £615 million in additional funding in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with overall costs, including the costs of the 4% school teacher pay award and the 3.2% local government support staff pay offer in 2025/26. This additional increase in funding means that the overall core schools budget (CSB) will total £65.3 billion in 2025/26 compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This is a year-on-year increase of £3.7 billion.

Schools will, on average, be expected to fund approximately the first 1 percentage point of the teacher and support staff pay awards through improved productivity and smarter spending. That is equivalent to about 0.8% of a school’s overall budget, on average. The pay award will be funded above this level from new and existing funding increases from the government. The department believes that schools can make productivity gains. We know that this is challenging, but this is in line with asks to the rest of the public sector to drive better value from existing budgets to help rebuild public services.

Schools are already making savings and bringing core operating costs down. For example, the 400 schools who participated in the department’s new energy for schools offer will save 36% on average compared to their previous contracts, which will free up vital funding to deliver for children and young people. The department is also making plans to secure better banking solutions for schools, getting them better returns on their cash balances. We will continue to provide schools with additional tools, guidance and support. Those best placed to identify ways for individual schools to operate more efficiently will be headteachers and school business managers.

Budgets for 2026/27 are still to be agreed and this includes the 2026/27 CSB. This will be subject to the multi-year spending review, which we expect to be concluded in June this year. The department will be taking account of the impact of the full year's costs of the teacher pay award.

In Devon, the average infant class size is 24.9 pupils and the average primary class size is 25.5 pupils. These are both less than the national average of 26.6. The average secondary class size is 22.6 pupils, which is similar to the national average of 22.4.

Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per schoolteacher, with limited prescribed exceptions, including for looked after children and those from multiple births. In Devon, the average infant class size is well within the statutory limit and below the national average.

There is no statutory limit on the size of classes for older children (pupils aged 8 and over), and it is up to schools to decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances, ensuring they are consistent with raising attainment and helping pupils to achieve and thrive.

Local authorities have responsibility to ensure there are sufficient school places in their area. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide additional school places where they are needed.

Our school system will drive high and rising standards, across every school and for every child. We aim to deliver these improvements through excellent teaching and leadership, a high-quality curriculum, robust accountability and faster school improvement, and a system which removes additional barriers to learning.

Class sizes in primary and infant classes have been on a downwards trend in recent years, while secondary school classes have increased only slightly in line with demographic trends.

The quality of teaching is the most significant within-school factor in improving outcomes for children. This is why as our first steps for change, we are committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this Parliament, reflecting the demographic trend of more pupils moving into upper secondary school and 16 to 19.

To further strengthen the foundations of learning, we have also launched an independent, expert-led curriculum and assessment review which seeks to deliver an excellent foundation in the core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics, and a broader, high-quality knowledge-rich curriculum that readies young people for life and work.

The department publishes information on class sizes in England in the annual accredited official statistics, ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’. The most recent data can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24.

The average class sizes for secondary schools in the Essex region and across England for the 2023/24 academic year are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aada0205-1f9a-48fc-a8c1-08dd736ca4ba.

Data on state-funded school places is published at national and local authority level in the annual school capacity statistics publication. The latest data is for academic year 2023/24 and can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity/2023-24.

The number of school places in mainstream state secondary schools in England and Essex as of 1 May 2024, as well as how many were unfilled, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8e1c8b2e-fc28-436c-9b02-08dd7377d1ad.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities.

The average class size for state-funded primary schools in the East Midlands is 26.3 pupils, which is below the national average of 26.6 pupils, and 26.7 for Nottingham East, which is a fraction higher than the national average. The average class size for state-funded secondary schools in the East Midlands is 22.4 pupils, which is equal to the national average, and 23 for Nottingham East, which is just above the national average of 22.4.

Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per school teacher. An infant class is one in which the majority of children will reach the age of five, six, or seven during the school year, which includes reception, year 1 and year 2.

There is no statutory limit on the size of classes for older children (pupils aged eight and over), and it is up to schools to decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances to ensure all children can be supported to achieve and thrive.

The department has allocated £242 million in growth and falling rolls funding to local authorities through the 2024/25 dedicated schools grant (DSG). Local authorities’ allocations of growth and falling rolls funding for 2025/26 was confirmed in December 2024 and information for Croydon is published here: https://skillsfunding.service.gov.uk/view-latest-funding/local-authority/statement/306.

Local authorities can use their growth and falling rolls funding allocations to repurpose surplus space to create SEND units, resource bases, or wraparound childcare provision in mainstream schools, activity which the department knows some local authorities already undertake. This is intended to support schools with falling rolls where planning data shows that the surplus places will be needed. Local authorities now have additional flexibility to support schools through such falling rolls funds.

The forthcoming Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce new duties for mainstream state schools and local authorities to co-operate regarding their respective school admissions functions and for mainstream, special and alternative provision state schools to co-operate with local authorities regarding their place planning functions. The onus will be on schools and local authorities to work together constructively on these issues so that their statutory responsibilities can be fulfilled.

Information on the school workforce, including the pupil to adult and pupil to teacher ratios at national, regional, local authority, parliamentary constituency (prior to 2023 boundary changes) and individual school level, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

In the 2023/24 academic year, which is the latest data available, the ratio of pupils to teachers (qualified and unqualified) in state-funded schools was 19.2 in Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency (2024 boundary), 18.0 in North Yorkshire local authority and 18.1 nationally in England.

The department publishes annual statistics on class sizes in state-funded schools in England here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. The England averages for the most recent five years are available in the ‘Class size’ section of the publication. Comparable figures for local authorities can be found in files in the data catalogue or displayed via the interactive table tool. Figures for parliamentary constituencies can be calculated from the school level files listed under the heading ‘Additional supporting files’ for each annual publication. Data on parliamentary constituencies use boundaries as they were when the statistics were last published for January 2024. Statistics using new boundaries will be available in the next publication of the series in June 2025.

The department holds data on average class sizes in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. This publication holds average class size at national level, local authority and school level. School level data from before 2010 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupil-and-their-characteristics-2002-to-2009-data.

Parliamentary constituencies are based on their boundaries at the time of the January school census each year. Therefore, the 2024 parliamentary boundaries do not reflect the changes made in the summer of 2024.

Where statistics were published prior to the changes in parliamentary constituency boundaries, they will be updated to reflect the new boundaries in the next publication of statistics. This is expected to be in June 2025 for the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication.

Class size data is published at school level. This can be combined with information from the Get Information About Schools (GIAS) website to identify parliamentary constituency, which is available here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/. GIAS currently reflects the changes made following the general election parliamentary constituency changes. Updates to geographical data are made on a quarterly basis using data published by the Office for National Statistics.

The average class size for state-funded primary schools in Lincolnshire is 25.5 pupils, which is below the national average of 26.6 pupils. The average class size for state-funded secondary schools in Lincolnshire is 21.5 pupils, which again is below the national average of 22.4 pupils.

Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per school teacher. An infant class is one in which the majority of children will reach the age of five, six, or seven during the school year, which includes reception, year 1 and year 2.

There is no statutory limit on the size of classes for older children (pupils aged eight and over), and it is up to schools to decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances to ensure all children can be supported to achieve and thrive.

It is local authorities who have responsibility to ensure there are sufficient school places in their area. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need Grant to support local authorities to provide school places. Lincolnshire will receive £21.5 million in 2025/26 to support the provision of new school places needed by September 2026.

The average class size for state-funded primary schools in Bedford is 26.8 pupils and in Central Bedfordshire it is 25.7 pupils, which is broadly in line with the national average of 26.6 pupils. The average class size for state-funded secondary schools in Bedford is 21.5 pupils and in Central Bedfordshire it is 22.6 pupils, which again is broadly in line with the national average of 22.4 pupils.

Secondary schools can decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances, ensuring they are consistent with raising attainment and helping pupils to achieve and thrive. Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per school teacher.

It is local authorities who have responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient school places in their area. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places. Bedford Borough Council will receive £15.1 million and Central Bedfordshire Council will receive £3.3 million in 2024/25 to support the provision of new school places needed by September 2025.

The number of pupils who may switch schools as a result of changes in the independent sector is expected to represent a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector. Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research has estimated that up to 40,000 pupils may switch schools. Even this figure would represent less than 0.5% of the total UK state school pupil population, which is more than 9 million. It is therefore highly unlikely that school class sizes increase as a result of ending the VAT exemption for private schools.

The IFS’s research is available here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending and https://ifs.org.uk/news/removing-tax-exemptions-private-schools-likely-have-little-effect-numbers-private-sector.