A third of schools in a high-profile academy trust are set to make “staffing changes” as they wrestle with the falling rolls crisis.
The David Ross Education Trust (DRET) is looking to make the cuts after a review of its central team failed to address the “scale of the funding reduction” caused by the fall in pupils.
Bosses of the chain – which runs 36 academies across the country – stressed the changes will not impact all its schools but confirmed there will be redundancies.
Central team review
A trust spokesperson said: “Like many schools and trusts across the country, we are seeing the impact of the national decline in birth rates through falling pupil numbers.
“Our priority remains providing a high-quality education for every pupil, while ensuring our schools are sustainable for the long term.”
They added DRET has “taken a range of steps over time to manage the financial pressure this creates, including holding vacancies and not replacing some roles when colleagues have moved”.
Where further change was needed, the trust “deliberately started by reviewing our central team structures before considering any changes at school level”.
That consultation has now closed, with DRET working “wherever possible to support colleagues into alternative roles” in the organisation.
It would not say how many roles were impacted.
‘Limited’ redundancies
“While these steps have helped, they have not fully addressed the scale of the funding reduction and in some cases, schools also need to make staffing changes,” the spokesperson continued.
“Whilst there will be a limited number of redundancies, our approach has prioritised central teams and redeployment where possible.”
The spokesperson stressed this will affect “around a third” of DRET schools. The changes will in “most cases” involve a “small number of roles”.
Latest accounts for the trust show it ended 2024-25 with reserves of £8.5 million, up from £6.6 million the year before. This is the equivalent of 7 per cent of its annual income.
Around 90 per cent of trusts hold reserves of at least 5 per cent of total income, according to the government. But they have “the flexibility to maintain a level of reserves that trustees decide is appropriate”.
Sector struggles
This comes after Schools Week revealed Aspirations Academies Trust plans to make over £3 million of savings by “remodelling” its curriculum and staffing, reducing central support and “reshaping senior leadership structures” after racking up seven-figure losses last year.
The 16-school chain blamed unfunded pay awards and falling rolls for the downturn, as well as “unfavourable government policies”.
Research by the Kreston group, a network of accountancy firms, found that all types of trust except medium-sized MATs are forecasting that reserves will fall by up to 43 per cent over the next two years.
The Confederation of School Trusts’ annual survey revealed many chief executives were looking at leadership redundancies and cutting classroom staff to balance the books.
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