A “sizeable minority” of academy trusts may be vulnerable to funding issues because of falling primary pupil numbers, according to new analysis.
Research by FFT Education Datalab found hundreds of trusts that are either primary-only or have few secondary schools. The analysis suggests that the latter could be in a “vulnerable position” if they lose their secondary schools,
Schools Week reported last month that the 15-school Diocese of Bristol Academies Trust would hand over all of its schools to new trusts after ministers decided to rebroker Deanery School in Swindon, its sole secondary.
It prompted warnings from chief executive Stephen Mitchell that “where you have trusts with a lot of primary schools and a small number of secondaries, their model is based around reliance on the secondary schools’ size… that’s a vulnerability”.
