A SMALL increase in school classroom funding was last night welcomed, but warnings were issued over the impact of university funding cuts.

Chancellor George Osborne announced that the schools budget would increase from £35bn to £39bn over the next four years.

A £2.5bn pupil premium was announced, with schools seeing their budgets increase or decrease depending on the number of poorer children they teach.

But it was confirmed that the Educational Maintenance Allowance – handed to disadvantaged 16 to 19-year-olds to encourage them to continue their schooling – had been scrapped.

Beccy Earnshaw, director of Schools North-East, which represents schools across the region, gave the Chancellor’s announcements a cautious welcome. She said: “People can feel relatively relieved compared to others.

“The devil is in the detail. What will the cuts to local authorities, who provide support services, mean to schools for example?”

While schools escaped the full force of the cuts, universities were told their teaching budgets would be cut by £2.9bn.

The move led to warnings that institutions across the country could be forced to close.