New figures show that 49% of primary schools had or are expecting to have an in-year deficit in 2022/23, while 50% expect to have a deficit in 2023/24 – on top of needing to make cuts to provision.
The report (Lucas et al, 2023) has been published by the National Foundation for Educational Research, Nuffield Foundation and ASK Research and warns that 58% of primary schools are also asking parents for extra funds to accommodate cost-of-living pressures.
It reveals exactly what provision primary schools are cutting in order to try and balance the books (see below).
At secondary level, the report finds that 41% of schools had or are expecting to have an in-year deficit in 2022/23, while 42% expect to have a deficit in 2023/24 as well as needing to make cuts. And 29% of secondaries are asking parents for financial support.
Furthermore, the study finds that only one in five of all schools have managed to avoid making cuts to any areas of their provision in response to the increased cost-of-living.
The overall schools budget is set to increase by £3.5bn for 2023/24 and £1.5bn in 2024/25. In July, the Department for Education also announced an additional £482.5m in 2023/24 and £827.5m for schools in 2024/25, expected to be funded from elsewhere in the DfE budget.
However, the fact that schools funding in 2024 will only return, in real-terms, to levels last seen in 2010 means there has been no real-terms growth in 14 years (see more as reported by our sister magazine SecEd).
The new report states: “Despite making cuts, schools are reporting that recent cost-of-living increases have had a considerable negative impact on their financial positions. While the overall schools budget is set to increase by a further £3.5bn for 2023/24 and £1.5 bn in 2024/25, many schools have seen their financial situations worsen over the last year.”
The study involved more than 2,700 senior leaders and teachers working in primary, secondary and special schools. It found that 70% of primary senior leaders reported not feeling confident that their school is able to fully meet the needs of all their pupils (compared to 64% of secondary and 49% of special leaders).
The respondents said that cuts in response to cost-of-living pressures are affecting in particular provision for pupils with SEND, not least because of cuts to teaching assistant provision: 47% of primary schools, 32% special schools and 28% of secondary schools report cutting teaching assistant numbers or hours. Other things being cut include:
- Learning resources (62% of primaries and 43% of secondaries).
- Targeted support such as tutoring (37% and 20%).
- School trips/enrichment activities (49% and 27%).
- Buildings/maintenance (54% and 43%).
- Energy usage (46% and 44%).
- Teacher numbers or hours (15% and 23%).
The report has one clear recommendation for government: “In the short-term, schools need greater financial support to address pupils’ pressing wellbeing and welfare needs, alongside meeting the additional direct costs (e.g., energy and school meal costs) associated with the increased cost of living.”
Co-author of the study and research director at the NFER, Jenna Julius, said: “Teachers and senior leaders, particularly in the most disadvantaged schools, report their learning provision has been negatively impacted by cuts being made in response to increased costs.
“In the short-term, schools need greater financial support to help meet the additional direct expenses associated with the increased cost-of-living such as energy and school meal bills.”
This is the second of three reports being published by the NFER on the theme of cost of living. The first looked at the impact of the crisis on pupils and families (see our report here) while the third looked at school workforce issues resulting from cost-of-living pressures (see our report here).
Commenting on the latest report, Niamh Sweeney, deputy general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “The government has promised more money for education in cash terms, with an 18.1% increase between 2021/22 and 2024/25. However, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility’s forecasts for the 2022 autumn statement predicted a cumulative 25.4% RPI increase over the same period. Schools funding is facing further real-terms cuts as a result. This also assumes that inflation falls as fast as anticipated. If inflation is more persistent – as has been the case – then the real-terms cuts will be even greater.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Schools face a twin challenge of juggling both their increased costs for things like energy and resources, and in supporting more children who may turn up hungry and not in a good place to learn. It’s now often harder for them and their families to access help from services like social care which have suffered from years of under-investment, meaning already stretched school staff are increasingly picking up the slack.
“These findings give the government notice that it must mitigate the impact of continuing inflation by offering the level of investment needed in schools in the autumn spending review in November.”
Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed that the financial pressure on schools is “unsustainable”. She added: “It is true that the government has put more money into education in recent years, but the problem is that this comes after a decade of real-terms cuts and is being outstripped by the soaring cost of things like energy bills and school meals.
“Many schools face the prospect of having to make further savings. While they strive to minimise the effect on pupils, this inevitably has a negative impact on learning and the additional support they are able to provide to children with SEN.
“The government boasts that schools are receiving ‘record funding’ but this is not how it feels on the ground faced with the reality of spiraling costs and with capital funding for repairing and refurbishing buildings having been halved in real-terms since 2010.
“The simple truth is that if the level of investment in education does not match rising costs this necessitates cuts.”
- Lucas et al: Cost-of-living crisis: Impact on schools (school provision), NFER, September 2023: https://tinyurl.com/yap8a5vj