- The proportion of senior leaders reporting cuts to trips and outings has more than doubled since last year.
- More than two-thirds (71%) of senior leaders report difficulties with recruiting teachers this year.
- 2 in 5 heads report using their pupil premium funding to plug gaps in their general budgets.
63% of school senior leaders report having to cut teaching assistants and half report cutting trips this year, according to new polling released today. The survey of 1,428 teachers, conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) for the Sutton Trust as part of their Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey, reveals a sharp increase in cuts to a range of activities in schools, along with difficulties in recruiting teachers.
The proportion of senior leaders reporting that they have cut trips and outings has more than doubled since last year, at 50% compared to 21% in last year’s survey. Schools in the most disadvantaged areas were more likely to be impacted by cuts to trips, with 68% of leaders in the most deprived schools reporting cuts, compared to 44% in the least deprived.
Those reporting cuts to teaching assistants has increased from 42% in 2022 to 63% this year. As well as teaching assistants and trips, senior leaders report having to cut IT equipment (42%), support staff (40%) and sports and extracurricular activities (26%), all at higher rates than last year (full comparisons can be found in the notes to editors). In secondaries, senior leaders also report increased cuts to subject choice. At GCSE, a quarter are reporting cuts to subject choices available, up from 17% last year. Similarly, a quarter (24%) report cuts to A-Level subjects compared to 16% last year.
