The sector continues to be rife with discussions about funding - not least in the wake of a pay rise for teachers that was not fully funded.

This is not a new reality. For years, schools and trusts have been looking at how they can operate more efficiently by identifying areas of overspend, then correcting as required.

This is something that we at STEP Academy Trust have been doing proactively for many years to ensure we can provide the best education possible for the 5,000 pupils at our 20 schools.

In doing so, we have found numerous areas of efficiency, including stationery purchasing. This is an area you may not immediately think of as the source of huge economies, but we saved tens of thousands of pounds. Here’s how: 

Reviewing costs with fresh eyes 

The first thing we did was to conduct a clear, detailed review of where expenditure was taking place.

From this, we saw that stationery was an area that, while obviously being required by every school in the trust, could be managed more effectively. 

This was because, traditionally, stationery and curriculum budget was allocated to academies for headteachers to oversee, with the combined cost being in excess of £200,000. 

The sheer size of the spend led us to consider the possibility that we weren’t using our economies of scale as efficiently as possible. What’s more, was overseeing stationery spending really the best use of headteachers’ time? 

A new way of working

We realised that, by taking this administrative burden away from teachers and centralising and streamlining procurement, we could use the strength of the trust as one organisation to get a better deal for our schools. 

We took the time to explain the challenges of our existing approach to our colleagues, consistently coming back to our mission to improve the life chances of our children and the core purpose of each role within STEP. 

And because we talked collaboratively rather than just issuing a new policy from on high, headteachers bought into what we were proposing, realising that it would free up their time and energy for more  teaching and learning.

The new approach 

The first element of our new approach was assessing inventory. 

Having found that all our schools had a reasonable stock of a range of stationery supplies and workbooks, we pooled all the resources into two central locations, ensuring that every school had an adequate supply for the term.

Over the year, we analysed the products used from a quality and value-for-money perspective, then identified a core set of products and workbook styles that would meet the requirements of each subject, year group and school.  

We spoke with a number of regional suppliers to find the one that would provide the best quality, price and partnership for our trust, and eventually selected a single supplier called HBS. 

Our schools no longer need to order stationery or workbooks, as this is calculated for them and ordered centrally each term. If a top-up is needed, this comes from a central location. 

By doing this, we have not only reduced waste and oversupply, but have also been able to repurpose rooms previously used for storage. Additionally, our supplier benefits from a more efficient delivery process. 

The significant impact

As a result of using surplus stationery, reworking our order process and reducing the variety of stock ordered, we reduced our spending cost from £200,000 in 2024/25 to around £30,000 in 2025/26. 

While the difference includes a one-off saving from the utilisation of surplus stock, we are confident that annual spend going forward will be less than half of previous years. 

This significant saving has softened the blow of funding pressures and enabled us to continue to ensure all the money we spend goes directly to providing the best education for our young people. 

Ben March is chief finance and operations officer at STEP Academy Trust