What is the Autumn Budget and How Will it Affect You?

The budget was announced on the 30th of October 2024 by the Labour government and its intention is to reform and rebuild our economy and improve sector areas, such as: education and healthcare. This has brought about many implications for students and teachers alike.

Increased funding: The core schools budget will be risen by £2.3 billion commencing 2025 with £1 billion of this being allocated to Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) facilities to increase opportunities for disadvantaged or underprivileged students. Nearly £900 million has been invested in order to improve higher education.

Maintenance of schools: £6.7 billion has been dispensed for investment into schools, £1.4 billion of which will go into rebuilding schools and an additional £2.1 billion for maintenance. This acts as a short-term solution to the failed infrastructure of schools as was seen last year

It is, however, argued by critics that this budget isn’t an effective long-term policy - there are still evident concerns on the lack of acknowledgement and focus to fill the divide between different classes of students and the effect of these changes can not be properly understood as of yet. Furthermore, tuition fees have been increased from £9,250 to £9,540 annually, this means University students will likely take on an additional £855 in loans over the length of a 3-year degree. To add to that, maintenance loans - which cover living costs - will rise by around £414 annually for students from lower-income families, however students from these families are still worse off compared to 2020-2021.

The new budget represents the progressiveness of our government and the commitment to rebuild public services that we all deserve access to. While most of these reforms invest into education, improve the system and increase our opportunities of gaining higher education, there are still significant impacts on the individual student, in terms of finance and living management, especially those from lower-income backgrounds. As someone who personally is intending to attend university in the coming years, this is a disappointment and a setback as it provides added stress for individuals who can’t easily access money or loans. I think this also exacerbates the growth of different forms of higher education, such as degree apprenticeships. This budget is an attribute to the growing disinterest in university from students and the idea that there is little incentive nowadays, as devoted students will be paying off their debts into their later years; which is disappointing considering all the benefits that can come from a university education.

By Layla Thomas