Schools have sounded the alarm over “unprecedented” supply cover costs draining budgets amid soaring staff illness and widespread teacher shortages, costing the sector hundreds of millions a year.
Recently filed annual accounts from large academy trusts reveal the toll of the sector’s shrinking workforce.
Separate Schools Week analysis shows maintained schools spent a combined £622 million on supply cover in 2021-22, up more than a third year-on-year.
They spent £171 per pupil on supply costs last year – a five-year high and up from £160 per head in 2019, before Covid.
