THE government’s “Austerity 2.0” attack on education will hit children and students at the youngest and oldest ends of the education system most, a damning new report has revealed.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said today that early years’ education, colleges, sixth forms and universities face difficulties “for years to come” after they were deliberately excluded from recent government funding increases.

Teaching union the National Education Union (NEU) said the report was a “stark reminder of the pitiful state of education” in Britain.

One local campaign group against school cuts said the government “does not recognise the reality of the funding crisis in our education communities, where austerity bites part two.”

The IFS report said “surging inflation” was already “seriously eroding” increases in funding.

The report, which was funded by the Nuffield Foundation, said the government’s share of education costs had fallen from 12 per cent in the early 1970s to 10 per cent today.

Overall education spending has fallen 2 per cent since the Tories were elected in 2010.

The report’s author, IFS research fellow Luke Sibieta, said colleges and sixth forms were in a “much worse position” than schools.

“Unlike schools, they received no additional funding in the Autumn Statement for higher-than-expected costs and will need to accommodate an extra 200,000 students by 2030,” he said.

NEU joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: “The IFS annual report is a stark reminder of the pitiful state of education funding.

“The IFS notes that the 2010s were a ‘lost decade’ with schools funding falling by 9 per cent in real terms.

“While the situation has improved since, real-terms education funding will still be below 2009-2010 levels in 2024-25.

“It’s amazing how far our expectations have been lowered over the past 15 years to see this as in any way acceptable.

“It is a symptom of failure from a failed government.”

Dr Bousted said that while schools in England are in line for some spending increases to offset higher cost, “no money was forthcoming for early years, further education, sixth form or higher education budgets.

“This important report highlights the huge cuts to education funding over the last 12 years and that the additional £2bn campaigners won at the Autumn Statement are still not enough to restore all the cuts,” she said.

“According to [United Nations education group] Unesco, high income countries like us spend an average of 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on education and as this report shows Britain falls short of that benchmark.

“Education spending is 4.6 per cent of GDP, well below the 5.6 per cent from 2009-2010.

“This gap can only be addressed by investment in our economic infrastructure and in our skills base.”

Dr Bousted said that the government must ultimately decide “what type of country it wishes us to be — a low-wage, low-skill, low-investment economy, or a high-investment, high-skill, high-productivity economy, leading to high wages for its citizens.”

Sue McMahon, organiser of Calderdale Against School Cuts (CASC) in West Yorkshire, said schools will still be expected to fund staff pay rises with no extra cash, and condemned the government’s “short-sighted” decision not to invest in early years’ education.

“Our young people deserve better than this,” she said.

“This government does not recognise the reality of the funding crisis in our education communities, where austerity bites part two.”

In his mini-budget last month new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was a “moral mission” to educate the country’s children.