This week’s Spring Budget, delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has brought a mix of targeted investment and sector-wide concern for the UK’s education community. While there’s good news for technical education and construction skills training, many within the sector feel that mainstream schools — especially primary and secondary — have once again been left behind.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what was announced and how it could impact education:
A Boost for Technical Education
One of the headline announcements was a £625 million investment in construction-related skills training over the next four years. This includes:
- £100 million to create 10 new Technical Excellence Colleges focused on construction.
- £165 million to expand High Value Course Premium and Free Courses for Jobs programmes.
- £40 million for 10,000 new construction apprenticeships.
- An additional £100 million for 35,000 places on construction bootcamps.
This is part of a wider government strategy to close skills gaps and support sectors experiencing high demand — particularly in infrastructure and housebuilding. While this investment is welcome, it is highly targeted, meaning it doesn’t directly benefit most schools, teachers, or pupils outside the technical training and further education sector.
Capital Funding: A Missed Opportunity?
While the Department for Education’s capital budget is increasing by £100 million in 2025-26, this money is fully allocated to building the new Technical Excellence Colleges. No additional capital funding has been made available for existing schools, despite growing concerns around ageing infrastructure, overcrowding, and the ongoing RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) crisis affecting some buildings.
Education unions have called this a missed opportunity, urging the government to reinvest in existing school estates to ensure children are learning in safe, well-equipped environments.
Core Budget vs. Real-Term Impact
The core schools budget is expected to rise to £64.8 billion in the next financial year — around £900 million more than previously forecast. However, this increase is likely to be absorbed by national insurance increases and rising costs, meaning schools may not experience any tangible improvement in day-to-day funding.
Cuts Behind the Scenes
Another key announcement was a 15% cut to government administrative budgets, which could lead to up to 50,000 civil service job losses over the next five years. Although these aren’t direct cuts to schools, there is concern that support services — such as safeguarding teams, education advisors, or SEND provision oversight — could be impacted as a result.
Final Thoughts
The 2025 Spring Budget shows a clear focus on vocational skills and construction-related training, which could benefit older learners and the economy long-term. But for parents, teachers, and schools working with children day in and day out, it’s a disappointing result — especially when urgent improvements to school buildings and classroom funding continue to be overlooked.
Education isn’t just about investing in the future workforce — it’s about investing in children, now.
