FOUR in five schools will be worse off financially next year than they were less than five years ago, unions have claimed.

A new analysis by the School Cuts coalition calculates that most schools in England – more than 80 per cent – will have less funding per pupil in real terms in 2020 compared to 2015.

Ministers announced plans earlier this summer to invest an extra £7.1bn in schools in England over the next three years. This includes increasing the core schools budget by £2.6bn in 2020/21.

But the coalition, which is made up of six unions - ASCL, NEU, The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), GMB, Unison and Unite, say that there will still be a shortfall of £2.5bn ext year.

Around one third of all schools will see real-terms cuts to their budgets next year because school costs are greater than inflation, they added.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “For years, our heads, teachers and school staff have done all they can to mitigate the impact on children. But the buck stops with the government. Boris Johnson has made lots of empty promises on school funding – but his numbers don’t add up.

"The latest funding announcement falls well short of settling the shortfall for every child. And crucially it fails to reverse the cuts schools have suffered since 2015. It’s unthinkable that our schools have to go on like this – losing support staff, shedding subjects and cutting back on basic maintenance just to balance the books.

"We are calling on the Prime Minister to put the money where his mouth is and end the funding crisis in education once and for all.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “We’ve won the argument that only new money from the Treasury can solve the funding crisis. The question is: how much is enough?

"The additional funding announced by the government is very welcome and will go some way to restoring the real-terms cuts we’ve seen since 2010. But there are gaps. Early years, SEND and sixth form education are all short. And schools won’t receive a penny until next year.

"In the meantime, they are still at breaking point and struggling to make ends meet.”

John Richards, head of education at UNISON added: “Schools are so cash-starved that staff are buying equipment like pens and stationery with their own money.

"Valuable teaching assistants are also being axed by schools as they struggle to balance budgets. The government keeps promising resources but schools need money now.”

A Department for Education spokesman said the Government's school funding announcement means all secondary schools will receive at least £5,000 per pupil next year while all primary schools will get at least £4,000 from 2021-22, adding that the biggest increases will go "to the schools that need it most".