Education spending is the second-largest element of public service spending in the UK behind health, representing about £90billion in 2017–18 in today’s prices or about 4.3% of national income. The level of UK education spending has risen significantly in real terms over time, growing particularly fast from the late 1990s through to the late 2000s, before falling in real terms from 2010 onwards. Whilst important, such overall trends in total education spending tell us little about what has happened to the different areas of education spending.