The number of academy trusts that ran a deficit has increased, with a total shortfall between them of £65 million, new Department for Education accounts reveal.
There were 185 single or multi-academy trusts in deficit in the 2016-17 - up from 167 a year earlier.
The total cumulative deficit across these trusts was £65 million - up from £50 million the previous year.
However, the level of surplus cash across the academies sector has also grown to £2.4 billion - up from £2.2 billion in 2015-16.
Academies deficit
The DfE accounts show that across the academies sector there was a total deficit of £6.1 billion - but this figure includes a loss of £8.4 billion caused by assets no longer being included if it was decided that the “relevant academy did not have control of these assets”.
Had this “derecognition” not taken place, the net assets in the academy sector would have increased by around £9 billion to £52 billion, which the accounts say is down to the increasing size of the sector
The new report shows that over the course of 2016-17, 1,230 academies opened.
By July of last year, there were 6,925 open academies, free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools - an increase of 20 per cent on the year before. This included 423 free schools.
