Spending on schools per head of population in Northern Ireland is similar to England, Scotland, and Wales. However, Northern Ireland’s comparatively large school age population means that spending per pupil is lower than elsewhere in the UK.
On 22 October 2021, the BBC reported on a research publication by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and claimed that “Northern Ireland spends less on each school pupil’s education than any other part of the UK”. The news article reported that about £6,400 would be spent per pupil in Northern Ireland in 2021–22, compared with £7,600 in Scotland, according to IFS figures.
A similar claim was fact checked by FactCheckNI in 2018: “Do our primary pupils receive least per child?” It concluded the claim was “accurate with consideration”: public expenditure on pre-primary and primary education in Northern Ireland at that time was least per child, while Northern Ireland had the second highest level of expenditure on overall education per head of population.
This fact check analyses updated information published by HM Treasury.
The following table summarises the total identifiable spend (figures are in £) on education per head of population, by category, for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (taken from tables 10.8, 10.5, 10.6, and 10.7 in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2021 data produced by HM Treasury for the fiscal year 2019/20).
Northern Ireland | England | Scotland | Wales | |
| 9.1 Pre-primary and primary education | 468 | 427 | 717 | 530 |
| of which: under fives | 33 | 59 | 141 | 13 |
| of which: primary education | 435 | 367 | 575 | 517 |
| 9.2 Secondary education | 604 | 709 | 571 | 639 |
| 9.3 Post-secondary non-tertiary education | – | 10 | – | – |
| 9.4 Tertiary education | 167 | 40 | 274 | 91 |
| 9.5 Education not definable by level | 40 | 11 | 25 | 38 |
| 9.6 Subsidiary services to education | 151 | 54 | 49 | 39 |
| 9.7 R&D education | 0 | 41 | 0 | – |
| 9.8 Education n.e.c. | 98 | 26 | 50 | 45 |
| Total education spend per head of population 2019/20 (£) | 1,528 | 1,319 | 1,685 | 1,382 |
This data shows that total education spend per head in Northern Ireland (£1,528) was higher than England and Wales, but lower than Scotland. Northern Ireland had a much higher spending per head on “subsidiary services to education” and “education not elsewhere classified (n.e.c.)”, which could include spending that directly supports schools such as school transport, pupil support and special education.
However, Northern Ireland has a comparatively large school age population.
Using the total education spend figures from the same report (tables 10.4, 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3) and figures for pupil numbers from the national and devolved education departments, allows the spend per pupil to be calculated.
Northern Ireland | England | Scotland | Wales | |
| 9.1 Pre-primary and primary education (£m) | 886 | 24,026 | 3,916 | 1,670 |
| 9.2 Secondary education (£m) | 1,144 | 39,922 | 3,120 | 2,015 |
| Total education spend 2019/20 (£m) | 2,030 | 63,948 | 7,036 | 3,685 |
| Number of pupils 2019/20 | ||||
| Total school spend per pupil 2019/20 (£) | 5,945 | 7,193 | 10,020 | 7,854 |
| Population (mid year 2019) | ||||
| School pupils as % of the population | 18.0% | 15.8% | 12.9% | 14.9% |
As a percentage of the overall population, the school population of Northern Ireland is 40% larger than Scotland, which is reflected in Northern Ireland’s lower spending on a per pupil basis.
Even if all of the “education n.e.c.” and “subsidiary services to education” spend was classified as school spending, spending on a per-pupil basis would still be lower in Northern Ireland compared with Great Britain.
