Education: every unitary authoritie ranked by spend per resident
61 councils · median £664.78/person · mean £655.53/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.
| Rank | Council | Control | Seats | Population | Total spend | Per resident | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Berkshire | LD | 165,112 | £165.5m | £1002.31 | +51% | |
| 2 | Halton | Ref | 131,543 | £130.0m | £988.40 | +49% | |
| 3 | Blackburn with Darwen | Ref | 162,540 | £151.5m | £931.99 | +40% | |
| 4 | Southampton | Ref | 259,424 | £237.8m | £916.45 | +38% | |
| 5 | Brighton and Hove | Lab | 283,870 | £256.5m | £903.45 | +36% | |
| 6 | Luton | Lab | 239,090 | £211.8m | £885.72 | +33% | |
| 7 | Leicester | Lab | 388,348 | £343.0m | £883.11 | +33% | |
| 8 | Isles of Scilly | Ind | 2,366 | £2.1m | £867.29 | +30% | |
| 9 | Cheshire West and Chester | Lab | 371,652 | £312.9m | £841.95 | +27% | |
| 10 | Westmorland and Furness | LD | 230,185 | £193.6m | £841.25 | +27% | |
| 11 | Buckinghamshire | Con | 578,772 | £485.3m | £838.48 | +26% | |
| 12 | Isle of Wight | Ref | 141,660 | £118.4m | £835.46 | +26% | |
| 13 | Bracknell Forest | Lab | 130,806 | £108.7m | £830.62 | +25% | |
| 14 | North Lincolnshire | Con | 171,336 | £139.6m | £814.66 | +23% | |
| 15 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Con | 355,884 | £281.9m | £792.22 | +19% | |
| 16 | Reading | Green | 182,907 | £141.9m | £775.94 | +17% | |
| 17 | Telford and Wrekin | Lab | 195,952 | £150.5m | £767.95 | +16% | |
| 18 | County Durham | Lab | 538,011 | £402.6m | £748.35 | +13% | |
| 19 | Windsor and Maidenhead | LD | 158,943 | £118.2m | £743.92 | +12% | |
| 20 | Milton Keynes | LD | — | 305,884 | £226.6m | £740.78 | +11% |
| 21 | Warrington | Lab | 215,391 | £155.6m | £722.27 | +9% | |
| 22 | Dorset | LD | 389,947 | £281.1m | £720.95 | +8% | |
| 23 | Northumberland | Con | 331,420 | £235.1m | £709.52 | +7% | |
| 24 | Central Bedfordshire | Ind | 315,877 | £223.5m | £707.45 | +6% | |
| 25 | Herefordshire, County of | Con | 191,047 | £133.9m | £700.87 | +5% | |
| 26 | Bedford | Con | 194,976 | £136.5m | £700.14 | +5% | |
| 27 | Derby | Lab | 274,149 | £186.7m | £681.16 | +2% | |
| 28 | North Yorkshire | Con | 635,270 | £430.5m | £677.59 | +2% | |
| 29 | Peterborough | Con | 223,655 | £150.7m | £673.72 | +1% | |
| 30 | Wokingham | LD | 187,200 | £124.6m | £665.85 | +0% | |
| 31 | Wiltshire | LD | 523,700 | £348.1m | £664.78 | 0% | |
| 32 | Hartlepool | Ref | 98,180 | £62.9m | £640.73 | -4% | |
| 33 | Cheshire East | Con | 421,298 | £258.4m | £613.23 | -8% | |
| 34 | South Gloucestershire | Con | 306,332 | £187.1m | £610.79 | -8% | |
| 35 | Rutland | LD | 41,443 | £24.3m | £585.50 | -12% | |
| 36 | Bristol, City of | Green | 494,399 | £284.3m | £575.13 | -13% | |
| 37 | West Northamptonshire | Ref | — | 439,811 | £252.8m | £574.88 | -14% |
| 38 | Somerset | LD | 588,328 | £338.1m | £574.64 | -14% | |
| 39 | Stockton-on-Tees | Con | 206,800 | £117.8m | £569.61 | -14% | |
| 40 | Nottingham | Lab | 331,077 | £179.7m | £542.80 | -18% | |
| 41 | Portsmouth | LD | 214,321 | £116.3m | £542.49 | -18% | |
| 42 | Middlesbrough | Lab | 156,161 | £83.7m | £536.00 | -19% | |
| 43 | Shropshire | Con | 332,455 | £177.4m | £533.53 | -20% | |
| 44 | Torbay | Con | 140,126 | £74.1m | £528.87 | -20% | |
| 45 | Plymouth | Ref | 272,067 | £141.8m | £521.35 | -22% | |
| 46 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | LD | 408,967 | £209.8m | £513.10 | -23% | |
| 47 | Cornwall | Ref | 583,289 | £297.3m | £509.72 | -23% | |
| 48 | Redcar and Cleveland | Lab | 139,228 | £71.0m | £509.67 | -23% | |
| 49 | Stoke-on-Trent | Lab | 270,425 | £136.1m | £503.24 | -24% | |
| 50 | York | Lab | 209,301 | £104.6m | £499.60 | -25% | |
| 51 | Bath and North East Somerset | LD | 200,028 | £96.8m | £483.84 | -27% | |
| 52 | Medway | Lab | 292,655 | £141.0m | £481.70 | -28% | |
| 53 | Southend-on-Sea | Ref | 185,256 | £88.4m | £477.39 | -28% | |
| 54 | Swindon | Con | — | 243,875 | £114.5m | £469.67 | -29% |
| 55 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Ref | 275,401 | £128.1m | £465.32 | -30% | |
| 56 | North Northamptonshire | Con | 373,871 | £170.1m | £454.98 | -32% | |
| 57 | Blackpool | Lab | 144,191 | £65.3m | £452.86 | -32% | |
| 58 | North East Lincolnshire | Ref | 159,911 | £71.8m | £448.88 | -32% | |
| 59 | North Somerset | Con | 224,578 | £97.0m | £431.77 | -35% | |
| 60 | Darlington | Lab | 112,489 | £45.6m | £405.67 | -39% | |
| 61 | Thurrock | Ref | — | 180,989 | £64.4m | £356.04 | -46% |
What this shows. Net revenue expenditure on the education bucket from each council’s 2024-25 Revenue Outturn (RO) submission to MHCLG, divided by ONS mid-year population. Higher per-head doesn’t imply waste — it can reflect demographic need (e.g. more older residents), rurality, or policy choice (e.g. retaining in-house services rather than contracting out). Lower per-head doesn’t imply efficiency — some councils have moved costs to fees, grants, or a ringfenced account.
Caveats. Councils under MHCLG suppression for 2024-25 don’t appear here (Birmingham, Slough, Cumberland and others — see their council card for the reason). Comparisons across the tier line don’t make sense, which is why this table is filtered to one council type at a time. Source: MHCLG Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing.