Cuts could reduce education in England to ‘bare bones’, headteachers say

An error by the Department for Education means schools in England will receive £370m less than they were told in July. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

Education in England is in danger of being reduced to a “barebones, boilerplate model”, headteachers have said, after an embarrassing £370m government bungle forced them to plan for further cuts.

Some heads are looking at cutting teaching assistants (TAs), who often work with children with special educational needs (SEN). Others are considering delaying infrastructure projects and reducing pupils’ enrichment activities in order to balance their books.