NINE out of 10 schools will run out of money by the next academic year due to the worsening cost-of-living crisis, headteachers warned today.

In an open letter to Tory MPs, 13 national education associations urged them to demand assurances from the next prime minister that Downing Street would deliver on the party’s manifesto pledge to restore funding to 2010 levels.

The call comes as schools look set for a £2 billion shortfall by 2024, due to spiralling inflation and energy bills as well as the government’s unfunded below-inflation pay offer to teachers.