The Send My Friend to School coalition is deeply concerned by the findings of the FCDO’s “Statistics on International Development: final UK ODA spend 2023”. 

The latest statistics on International Development for 2023 show yet another decrease in ODA spending for education, dropping to a new low of 3.5% of the ODA budget. This represents yet another blow to a resource-depleted issue that has experienced disproportionate cuts in the years since the ODA budget reduction from 0.7% and a decade of gradual deprioritsation. This latest data shows that in 2023 the UK’s bilateral aid for education fell to just £346 million, a drastic 64% decrease since 2016 (not adjusted for inflation). In 2013, 13.5% of the ODA budget was allocated to education, a staggering 10-point difference from today, ten years on. This persisting downward trend suggests that education is under threat of suffering further cuts unless there is an immediate political commitment by the new government to protect and invest in global education.

The UK’s pattern of cuts to education in the last decade has had a profound impact on children, families, and communities, and has damaged the UK’s reputation among partners. Global education has experienced worldwide stagnation in funding amidst severe and growing needs, with the poorest and most marginalised children and communities bearing the brunt of underfunding. 

As Campaign Champion Om (14) says, “now is the chance for the UK government to ask itself what kind of legacy it wants to leave”. With a smaller overall ODA budget expected in this month’s Autumn Budget, now more than ever is the time for the UK Government to demonstrate commitment to its global responsibility to support the critical mission of achieving quality education for all.

The Send My Friend to School Coalition is strongly united in our demand for the protection and reprioritisation of education in the UK’s development agenda. In the next budget, we call on the UK Government to halt spending cuts to education and demonstrate recommitment to the issue through a reasonable increase in the proportion allocated.

You can read more about how the UK Government can recommit to funding education in our ‘Invest in My Friend’s Learning’ briefing.