Commenting on a survey conducted by the National Foundation for
Educational Research for the Sutton Trust, showing that two
thirds of primary school heads have insufficient catch-up
funding, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said:
“These stark findings reinforce the point that we and many others
have repeatedly made – the government is failing to put enough
money into education recovery following two years of disruption
caused by the Covid pandemic. This comes against a background of
a decade of underfunding of schools and colleges which has left
budgets extremely tight and vulnerable to the impact of any extra
costs.
“Over the course of the pandemic, many schools and colleges have
faced huge extra bills to pay for supply cover for staff absence
caused by Covid and while there has been a government scheme to
provide some financial assistance it has been very limited,
convoluted and insufficient.
“Now schools and colleges face soaring energy bills and it is
hard to see any other conclusion to this situation than the
necessity for more cuts along the same lines as those identified
in the Sutton Trust research – support staff, IT equipment,
trips, outings, sport and extracurricular activities.
“We note the finding that a third of primary and secondary
headteachers report using their pupil premium to plug gaps in
their general budget. To be clear, this is a situation which is
forced by the paucity of funding. The reality is that the funding
which arrives in schools is the only means of paying the bills
regardless of the pots into which it is notionally divided, and
if the general level of funding is inadequate there is no choice
other than to use all available resources to keep the school
open, running and staffed.
“We recognise that the government has improved education funding
in recent years, but this follows a long period in which funding
has been completely insufficient and budgets have been under huge
strain. The financial situation continues to be extremely
challenging, and with rising inflation and energy costs, it is
set to become a great deal worse.”
