Responding to the Welsh Government's draft budget, Laura Doel, national secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, said: “This Budget will do nothing to rescue schools across Wales which are at crisis point when it comes to funding.

“Local authorities are predicting a £137m budget shortfall for schools in 2026/27 which is an unthinkable situation when we know that this comes on the back of significant cuts to school budgets, redundancies and scaling back on frontline delivery of education.

"This announcement does not show any significant increase for local government where schools get their core funding from, and the small additions for ALN (additional learning needs) and improving attainment levels are just a drop in the ocean.

“This government cannot sit back and do nothing for fear of not being able to pass a progressive budget without a Labour majority.

"We urge all political parties in the Senedd to put aside electioneering for the time being, respond to the Finance Minister Mark Drakeford’s willingness to work together and for everyone to do what they were elected to do and put the people of Wales before politics. Any party that uses this opportunity to score points should be ashamed.   

“There is a significant amount of unallocated funding sitting there which could be used to support vital frontline services like schools. Instead, there is a real risk this could be frittered away as part of any deal to get this Budget passed.

“We urge all parties to support some of the ‘consequential’ funding for education Wales was entitled to under the Barnett Formula following last year’s UK Budget being allocated to schools – there is no evidence this has happened so far.

“Let us be clear, schools in Wales are struggling, teachers and teaching assistants are being made redundant, secondary schools are offering fewer subjects to reduce staffing costs and our most vulnerable learners are not getting the support they need through the new ALN system.

“We urge all Senedd members to listen to the plight of schools and act now.”