Half of school leaders in England say they are having to cut school trips and outings, with children in disadvantaged areas more likely to lose out, according to polling.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of senior leaders who took part in the survey are having to cut teaching assistants, while a quarter are reducing sports, extracurricular activities and the number of GCSE and A-level subject choices available to their pupils.
The survey of more than 1,400 state school staff, carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) on behalf of the Sutton Trust educational charity, indicates there has been a sharp increase in cuts to activities and support staff over the last year.
The proportion of senior leaders cutting trips and outings has more than doubled since last year (from 21% to 50%), with 68% of leaders in the most deprived schools reporting having to make cuts, compared with 44% in the wealthiest.
Those cutting the number of teaching assistants went up from 42% in 2022 to 63% this year, while the proportion having to make cuts to subject choices available to pupils went up from 17% for GCSEs and 16% for A-levels to about a quarter in 2023.
Two out of five school leaders (41%) polled admit they are having to use pupil premium money – funding intended to improve the educational outcomes of the most disadvantaged – to cover shortfalls in their overall budget. The proportion has gone up from 33% last year and is the biggest since the Sutton Trust began polling for its Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey in 2017.
