A SCHOOL leader joined more than 1,000 headteachers from across the country to march on Downing Street in a protest over a lack of school funding.

Plume Academy principal Carl Wakefield joined the protest from Parliament Square on Friday to support campaign group Worth Less? as it presented a letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond.

The group believe schools in England are underfunded and have a “chronic” shortage of teachers.

Mr Wakefield, who has previously voiced concerns over shrinking frontline school services and staff shortages, said the academy has £700,000 less funding than in 2014.

Figures from the Department of Education also show that for the 2018/19 financial year, Essex County Council will spend £174 less per pupil than in 2014/15, when figures are adjusted for inflation.

Mr Wakefield, below pictured outside Downing Street, said: “Since 2014, as an academy, we are a staggering £700,000 worse off, but during this same time period, the demands on schools have rocketed due to a massive shrinkage in front line services such as mental health specialist support, social care, local authority input and an ongoing reduction in frontline policing.”

Mr Wakefield said the Government has not brought in enough newly qualified teaching staff in the past six years.

In July, the Institute of Fiscal Studies found between 2009-10 and 2017-18, total school spending per pupil in England fell by about eight per cent in real terms.

In the letter presented to the Chancellor, Worth Less? called for a reversal on cuts made over the last eight years an improvement of real term per pupil funding for the post 16 education sector.

Mr Wakefield added: “Their strapline of ‘there has never been more money put into education’ is in fact true, but that’s purely because there are now many, many more children in the system.

“They are our future and in essence, our economy’s future, so to under invest in them is also very short-sighted as well as extremely concerning.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “There is more money going into schools than ever before, rising to a record £43.5 billion by 2020 – 50 per cent more in real terms per pupil than in 2000.

“The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has recently confirmed the UK is the third highest spender on education in the world, spending more per pupil than countries including Germany, Australia and Japan.

“We know that we are asking schools to do more, which is why we are helping them to reduce the £10 billion spent each year on non-staffing costs, providing government-backed deals for things like printers and energy suppliers that are helping to save millions of pounds.”