Responding to a report from the National Foundation for
Educational Research (NFER), which found that almost half of
primary schools and special schools and two-fifths of secondary
schools in England had or were expecting an in-year deficit in
2022/23, Julia Harnden, Funding Specialist at the Association of
School and College Leaders, said:
“The fact that so many school budgets are in the red should be a
warning sign to the government that the financial pressure on the
sector is unsustainable.
“It is true that the government has put more money into education
in recent years but the problem is that this comes after a decade
of real-terms cuts and is being outstripped by the soaring cost
of things like energy bills and school meals.
“Many schools face the prospect of having to make further
savings. While they strive to minimise the effect on pupils, this
inevitably has a negative impact on learning and the additional
support they are able to provide to children with special
educational needs.
“Schools serving disadvantaged communities do not even have the
option of asking parents to help with the cost of resources as
their families simply cannot afford to do so.
“The government boasts that schools are receiving ‘record
funding’ but this is not how it feels on the ground faced with
the reality of spiralling costs and with capital funding for
repairing and refurbishing buildings having been halved in
real-terms since 2010.
“The simple truth is that if the level of investment in education
does not match rising costs this necessitates cuts. The
government has to invest more in education, including early
years, special schools and post-16 provision, to ensure that the
needs of every pupil can be met.”
