Wednesday's UK Spending Review means Stormont ministers now know the rough size of their budget in the two years before the next assembly election. In 2026, they will have about £16.3bn for day-to-day spending, up by about 2% in cash terms compared to this year. That will initially rise by another 3% in cash terms in 2027 to £16.8bn.

Given the challenging global economy, strengthening domestic U.K. growth drivers becomes even more challenging.

The DfE’s overall budget, including capital, will increase by an average 0.8 per cent a year in real terms by the end of the spending review period, from £100.9 billion in 2025-26 to £109.2 billion in 2028-29. Ofsted will get a £20 million funding boost to help staff inspections under its new report card plans.