Today’s report published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, reveals that further education spending per student remains lower than in 2010 in real terms The extra £4.3 billion just committed for schools in England by 2022 will just about reverse the cuts of 8% in spending per pupil since 2009. Even so, an effective 13-year real-terms freeze will still represent an unprecedented period without growth.

Almost all the candidates in the Conservative leadership election have promised higher levels of spending and there are reports the outgoing Prime Minister plans to announce an increase.

The current system of funding undergraduate education means that costs to government are highest for subjects where graduates earn the least, and lowest for subjects where they earn the most, is the findings of the report ‘Where is the money going? Estimating government spending on different university degrees’ published today (6 Mar) by Jack Britton, Laura van der Erve, Neil Shephard and Chris Belfield, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Attending university increases women’s earnings at age 29 by 26% and men’s by 6%: but this varies hugely by degree choice and prior attainment of students.

Children from richer families used to benefit much more from public spending on education than did those from poorer backgrounds.