The Tories accused Gordon Brown of "fiddling"

In his Budget, Gordon brown set out to raise state school funding to the level now enjoyed in the independent sector.

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the lack of a date on this aspiration "left us little the wiser as to the outlook for spending per pupil".

It also said his claim to be putting �34bn of "new" money into education was not borne out by the figures.

Most of it was not "new" spending, year on year, the IFS said.

The growth in capital funding for schools was set to slow significantly in the next few years.

'More and better'

A Treasury spokesman said: "The government has already invested record amounts in the education system, rectifying decades of under-investment.

"As a result we are seeing more schools with more teachers and better results."

The chancellor's commitment would "ensure that trend continues with substantial real increase in the capital spending".

But the shadow education secretary, David Willetts, said Mr brown had been "caught out fiddling the figures".

He said: "This time it's people in education who have been misled.

"His promises on capital spending were deeply misleading. And he could achieve his target of matching private spending on pupils in 2024 just by allowing education spending to grow with the economy.

"No student could get away with answering a maths paper like that."