school financing | Schools Week

Governors in West Sussex plan strike over school funding

Plans for the first “strike” of school governors have prompted a warning about the morale of volunteers who are being forced to make school staff redundant as budgets tighten. Governors in West Sussex have written to MPs threatening to stop signing off budgets and carrying out supervisory work in protest over a growing school funding […]

Nick Gibb ‘comfortable’ with schools’ approach to cost cutting

The schools minister Nick Gibb has said he is “comfortable” with the way schools are dealing with rising cost pressures. It comes despite headteachers recently revealing how they are having to cut back on textbooks, cleaning and maintenance to balance the books, on top of making teaching and support staff redundant. The Institute for Fiscal […]

Over a third of parents asked for school donations, survey finds

More than a third of parents have been asked to donate money to their child’s school, according to a new survey by PTA UK, a charity which represents a network of parent associations in schools. Education leaders have said the findings again expose the “inadequacy of school funding”. Of 1,514 parents surveyed, 37 per cent […]

Multi-academy trusts spend less on ‘back office’ but don’t pay teachers more … and 6 other EPI findings

Schools in multi-academy trusts spend less on “back office” costs and more on primary teaching staff, compared to standalone academies and local authority schools. Primary schools in multi-academy trusts spend £23 more on teaching staff per pupil than local authority schools, according to a new report from the Education Policy Institute. And secondary schools in MATs spend […]

Brooke Weston academy trust invests £1m in stocks

Entrepreneurial academy trusts are taking advantage of their cash freedoms to make six-figure profits by investing in stocks and shares, a Schools Week investigation has found. The Brooke Weston Trust, which runs ten academies, has made £176,000 interest after putting £1 million of its reserves in an investment fund. The fund is managed by HSBC, […]

No council cash for new free schools in Manchester

Manchester City Council is refusing to budget for three of the four free schools due to open in the city this September. From this year, councils have to pay for free schools from the moment they open, even if they are not established as a result of a “basic need” identified by local officials. Free […]

Flagship academy re-named after sponsors despite slipping into special measures

An academy has been renamed in recognition of its millionaire sponsor, just months after it was put in special measures and is possibly facing rebrokerage. The Business Academy Bexley has changed its name to the Garrard academy to recognise the support of sponsor Sir David Garrard, a retired property tycoon and former Labour donor. Garrard […]

Government writes off £800,000 of free school funding

The government has written off £800,000 it was unable to claw back from free schools. Schools Week revealed last month that the DfE needed to claw back £11 million from more than 100 free schools after they failed to recruit the expected numbers of pupils in the past academic year. New free schools are initially […]

The ups and downs of school finances have been exhausting to watch

It’s been a bumpy year, with school leaders left wondering who to watch for the next flurry of activity, says Matthew Clements-Wheeler. As I write this, my daughter is happily bouncing with her friends at a party in a nearby indoor trampoline park. This group of teenagers is the perfect metaphor for education policy, ministerial […]