THE government’s “Austerity 2.0” attack on education will hit children and students at the youngest and oldest ends of the education system most, a damning new report has revealed.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said today that early years’ education, colleges, sixth forms and universities face difficulties “for years to come” after they were deliberately excluded from recent government funding increases.

Teaching union the National Education Union (NEU) said the report was a “stark reminder of the pitiful state of education” in Britain.