Readers of this column may know that social mobility is the single biggest reason why I left the law to stand for Parliament. Talent is spread equally across Cheltenham, from the most affluent areas to the most deprived, but the same isn’t always true for opportunity. Everything possible must be done to unlock that potential for all our young people.
The closest thing to a silver bullet is education. A good school, with inspirational teachers, can do more than anything else to level the playing field and give all our youngsters a fair chance.
And this mission is about head, as well as heart. It’s no good having great local employers, like Spirax Sarco or GE Aviation, if schools aren’t able to provide a pipeline of motivated, qualified employees ready to take up the opportunities. Local businesses’ success is society’s success, as they create the tax revenues to support our local services.
So I was delighted when the Prime Minister announced that schools in Cheltenham will be funded at their highest level in history from next year, with over £3.5 million in additional Government funding.
Schools like All Saints’ Academy, Pittville, Bournside and Balcarras will receive an average of around £6,000 for each pupil from next year through the National Funding Formula, with additional funding for teacher pay on top of that. Overall, funding will be at its highest-ever level in real terms per pupil in 2024-25, as measured by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Now, it’s true that costs have gone up, as elsewhere in society. Pressures clearly remain. But it’s also true that Cheltenham is no longer in the position of being home to some of the worst funded schools in the country, which was the position I discovered in 2015.
When you add on around £30m investment in the brand new High School, Leckhampton, and a major £6 million revamp of Warden Hill School, our schools offer is strengthening.
The work isn’t done, and there’s more to do. But our schools are on the up.