*Education spending to largely keep pace with growing school population and demand.

*Operations funding to increase by 1.3 per cent.

*The accommodation benefit paid to eligible student allowance recipients will increase by up to $20 per week.

Education gets a Budget designed to largely keep pace with booming student numbers and demand - with an operations grant boost after this year's effective freeze.

And tertiary students on the student allowance could get up to $20 a week extra in their accommodation benefit.

Budget 2017 will invest an extra $1.1 billion of new education funding over four years, including six new schools and an increase in special education support. In total, education spending will hit $11.6 billion in 2017/18.

• Operations grant and "at risk" funding

Operations grant funding pays for the day-to-day running of a school and is usually increased to account for inflation, and will increase by 1.3 percent from the 2018 school year.

There was no increase this year, with the money instead handed out to schools based on the number of disadvantaged students they had.

Many schools got less money than what they would have received had the funding been increased by inflation - a fact Labour highlighted throughout the year.

Budget 2017 sets aside $458.9 million of extra funding over the next four years, largely to meet growing student numbers.

Just over $60 million will increase schools' operations grant funding by 1.3 per cent, with schools with high numbers of "at risk" students will get an extra 2.67 per cent in their at risk funding.

Early childhood providers will get an extra $386 million of operating funding over four years, to help provide an extra 31,000 places as well as support "at risk" students.

• Special education

Another $63.3 million over four years in extra funding will go to supporting students with special and additional learning needs, including more teacher aide hours.

The incredible years programme for parents and teachers with children with autism will get $4.2 million over four years to increase support to children aged 2-5 years.

Opposition parties, in particular the Green Party, have called for much larger funding increases, highlighting stories of parents forced to pay for support from their own pocket.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye said the Government had increased funding for children with additional learning needs by about 33 per cent since 2009, and today's Budget would extend teacher aide support to an extra 625 students a year.

• New schools

A day after Labour attacked the Government over the number of schools at or approaching capacity, the Budget includes an extra $392.4 million of capital funding and $64.1 million of operating funding for new schools and classrooms.

The school growth spending increases from a budgeted $3.9 million next year, to $29 million in 2020/21.

"This will provide six new schools, two school expansions, the relocation of two special education schools, 11 new special education satellite units and around 305 new classrooms nationwide," Kaye said, saying further details would be announced in the coming months.

Much activity will be in Auckland, where immigration and intensification will see new student places increase by 21,000 by 2021.

This month Kaye announced a new "metro" school model would be investigated for central Auckland, where school space was leased and existing parks and facilities were used, instead of new playing fields constructed.

• Tertiary education

Gets an extra $132.1 million of new operating funding over four years, which includes $52.5 million for the performance-based research fund that aims to increase high-quality research.

Tuition subsidy rates at qualification level three and above will increase, with the extra funding of $69.3 million over four years part of the Government's push to get more students studying higher-level courses.

And the effort to get more international students to New Zealand will get an extra $6.8 million in funding over four years. The accommodation benefit paid to eligible student allowance recipients will increase by up to $20 per week.

Ahead of the Budget the Government announced $5.2 million to expand Teach First NZ and recruit new teachers.