Chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing calls to prioritise school funding in his Budget being announced tomorrow.

Here are three things that the chancellor is being asked to deliver by school leaders and teaching unions:

Exclusive: Schools left to pay at least £42m in Covid costs

Related: School Covid costs could ‘wipe out’ catch-up funding

Catch-up: Recovery tsar won’t ‘walk away’ from a ‘fight’ with the DfE

1. A long-term Covid catch-up funding plan 

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has called on the chancellor to recognise “the vital role of education in the national recovery” from the Covid pandemic.

He said: “Most importantly, he must set out the government’s long-term spending plans for catch-up support. 

“Last week, the government announced a £700 million recovery package, and the education secretary indicated that longer-term support over the length of this Parliament will be vital to ensure children make up for lost learning.

“These were welcome words but the chancellor has to attach some figures to what this longer-term support will look like.”

2. More money for Covid costs

There are also warnings that schools need more money to meet the extra costs created by Covid.

Tes revealed last month how schools have been left to cover at least £42 million of extra costs associated with the Covid-19 pandemic after requests for financial help were rejected by the government.

The Department for Education set up a scheme for schools to apply for support with “exceptional” Covid costs, such as additional cleaning and keeping schools open over the holidays for vulnerable pupils.

Through this scheme, schools asked the DfE to reimburse more than £144 million of Covid costs covering the 2019-20 summer term.

But while £102 million has been paid out to schools, a further £42 million of claims were rejected, the DfE confirmed to Tes.

The ASCL is calling for the support to be increased in tomorrow’s Budget.

Mr Barton said: “We also want to see more action from the government to support schools and colleges with the extraordinary costs caused by the Covid pandemic.

“These include safety measures, such as enhanced cleaning, signage and hand sanitiser, as well as lost revenue from income generation, and teacher supply costs to cover absences.

 “The funding so far made available by the government to help with these costs is nowhere near enough, and more support is urgently needed.”

3. Extend free school meals

The NEU teaching union is calling for the chancellor to extend free school meals.

A letter from the NEU councillors’ network has called on Mr Sunak to extend eligibility for free school meals to cover 1.7 million more pupils whose families are in receipt of Universal Credit.

It says: “Coronavirus is having a far greater impact on the lives and educational experiences of children from disadvantaged and low-income families. There is significant financial pressure on thousands of families, some of whom are existing on as little as £20.27 a day.

“You have emphasised your government’s determination to ‘level up’. Reshaping FSM provision to include children growing up in families in receipt of Universal Credit will provide an additional 1.7 million children with what they need to learn, thrive and achieve their full potential.

“We urge you to make sure these families can access free school meals, so we can ensure that no child is left behind.”