Our annual survey of 1,282 teachers, conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) as part of their Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey, takes a closer look at schools funding and how school leaders are spending their budgets this year.
Last year, we found that many school leaders were having to cut essential staff and activities as they struggled to deal with the cost of living crisis.
The new survey reveals a worsening picture of school funding, with growing staff cuts along with reductions in spending for a range of activities in schools.
Notably, it shows that the proportion of senior leaders who are using the Pupil Premium – funding which is given to schools specifically to support disadvantaged pupils – to plug gaps in their general budget is at its highest level since our polling began in 2017.
