Maintained schools | Schools Week

Raid on school budgets next year as £41m council grants axed

Councils warn school improvement services and maintained schools face a financial hit, with grant cuts expected to incentivise more academy conversions

Covid savings fuel record turnaround in maintained school finances

Lower energy and exam costs saved schools millions during lockdowns

Investigate trusts amassing ‘substantial reserves’, watchdog tells DfE

A report found mainstream school finances had “held up well” in recent years, despite austerity cuts and other funding pressures

Ofsted boost for school in ‘David and Goliath’ court battle against academisation

A ‘good’ rating takes Yew Tree Primary School a step closer to resisting academisation after it took the DfE to court

Councils set to raid school budgets as £50m improvement grant faces axe

The DfE said axing improvement funds and letting councils top-slice school budgets instead meant a ‘smoother transition’ to full academisation

Teacher departures down 17% during pandemic, plus 4 more school workforce findings

Teaching’s increasingly young and diverse workforce continued to grow last year as staff departures slumped during Covid, new figures show. The Department for Education published its annual ‘school worforce in England’ data on Thursday, based on the November 2020 school workforce census. Here are the key findings. 1. Teacher numbers rise as staff stay […]

Academy orders can be revoked if schools improve to ‘good’, DfE confirms

Failing maintained schools that become ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before converting into academies can have their academy orders revoked, the Department for Education has officially confirmed. The DfE has today updated its statutory guidance on “schools causing concern” with more detail on the scenarios in which academy orders can be revoked. This appears to be the […]

Investigation: The schools that slip through the council finance net

Thousands of council schools have not had their finances independently scrutinised for more than five years – three of which were last audited by their local authority nearly 20 years ago. Schools Week can also reveal that council schools have been breaking rules over tax checks, issuing contracts and unauthorised pay rises for staff. And […]

Councils urged to claw back cash as ‘excess’ school surpluses top £500m

Councils are being urged to claw back cash from schools holding “excess” surpluses – as new figures show the total amount stored away by cash-rich schools was nearly £600 million. Department for Education figures published on Thursday show a worsening financial position for council-maintained schools – with more than three in ten secondary schools now […]