A STATISTICS watchdog found “serious concerns” today with the Department for Education's (DfE) presentation and use of data.

UK Statistics Authority chairman David Norgrove has urged the DfE to ensure data is properly presented “in a way that does not mislead.”

Mr Norgrove said the watchdog “has had cause” to publicly write to the department with concerns on four occasions in the past year, in a damning indictment of Education Secretary Damian Hinds and his predecessor Justine Greening.

“I regret that the department does not yet appear to have resolved issues with its use of statistics,” he added.

The authority’s director general for regulation Ed Humpherson had also written to the DfE saying figures were presented in a way which “misrepresents changes in school funding.”

He said school spending figures were “exaggerated by using a truncated axis” and by not adjusting for per-pupil spend.

Mr Norgrove said he sought assurances the DfE remained committed to the principles and practices defined in the statutory Code of Practice for Statistics.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner called it “a humiliating rebuke” for Tory ministers.

She added: “They need to come clean and stop deceiving the public in a desperate attempt to cover up their shocking record.

“They have used misleading figures on school funding to hide the fact that they have cut billions of pounds from school budgets, leaving headteachers forced to beg for donations from parents to pay for books and stationery.”
 
Ms Rayner said that instead of relying on discredited statistics, the DfE should use the Budget to invest in schools and “genuinely improve standards.”