The government’s claim that schools have the “headroom” in school funding to cover pay rises and other increasing costs “does not resonate” with academy trusts, an influential sector leader has warned.
Leora Cruddas, the chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST), said her members anticipated “a prolonged period of financial challenge and instability”, despite claims from ministers that schools could weather the financial storm.
In its evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, the Department for Education estimated that schools overall could afford £2.4 billion in “new spending” between 2022 and 2024 before facing a “net pressure on their budgets”.
Ministers have subsequently claimed schools could afford a 4.5 per cent average teacher pay rise next year with just £90 million of additional funding, after allocating £2 billion for each of the next two years at last year’s autumn statement.
