The proportion of local authority maintained primary schools in deficit has rocketed 62 per cent in a year to its highest level since current records began.
Spending data published on Thursday by the Department for Education shows the proportion of council primaries in deficit rose from 7.6 per cent in 2021-22, to 12.3 per cent in 2022-23.
The rise follows a drop in the proportion of all types of schools with deficits between 2019-20 and 2021-22, resulting from the Covid pandemic.
However, the proportion of primaries in deficit is now at its highest level since the current dataset began in 2015.
