Most settings won’t meet costs next year
Schools face a £700 million funding gap next year, with three in four primary schools and almost all secondaries facing not being able to meet costs, new analysis from the union School Cuts coalition suggests. Union leaders warned schools’ costs are expected to rise by 3.4 per cent next year, while mainstream funding will increase by just 2.2 per cent. It echoes recent warnings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that increases in school costs will outstrip the government’s recent funding boost. The Department for Education recently admitted that “most schools” will need to supplement additional funding allocated at the autumn budget with “efficiencies” in order to afford a proposed 2.8 per cent pay rise from next September. School Cuts analysed the impact of the proposed rise, along with the £1.3 billion funding increase announced last term and anticipated inflation. They predicted that 76 per cent of primary schools and 94 per cent of secondaries will not be able to afford their costs next year. This leaves a funding gap of £700 million. It will …
