Extra funding will be split between budget for building free schools and address school place shortages

The government has announced £1.2bn of extra funding for schools capital projects in its autumn statement - double the amount expected.

As widely trailed, George Osborne announced today that the Treasury would make available £600m to fund the launch of around 100 additional free schools by the end of the current parliament, including schools that specialise in maths.

However, he also announced £600m of basic need funding, which will be used to address the urgent shortfall of school places in England, particularly at primary school level.

This £600m, which is in addition to the annual settlements planned by the Department for Education for the current spending review period, will be spent between 2013-14 and 2014-15. It comes on top of £500m of basic need funding allocated to local authorities earlier this month.

The £600m of free schools funding is earmarked to be split into a £300m spend in 2013/14 and £300m in 2014/15.