Almost half of primary schools and special schools (at 49 and 48 per cent) and two-fifths of secondary schools (at 41 per cent) in England had or were expecting an in-year deficit in 2022/23, according to a new report.
Schools are only expecting the situation to worsen next year with just under half of mainstream schools (50 per cent primary and 42 per cent secondary) and two-fifths (39 per cent) of special schools expecting both to have an in-year deficit and needing to make cuts to provision in 2023/24[i].
Results from NFER’s report, Cost-of-living crisis: Impact on schools - School Provision [PDF], also suggest more than half of primary schools are asking parents for extra funds to accommodate cost-of-living pressures[ii].
In the study, conducted in collaboration with ASK Research and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, NFER recently asked more than 2,500 senior leaders and teachers in mainstream schools, and more than 100 in special schools, a series of questions to understand the impacts of cost-of-living pressures on schools[iii].
