More academy trusts went into deficit last year, new data from the DfE shows.

Teachers’ leaders said the figures were “another sign of the impact of the government’s cuts to school funding”.

Today’s publication, Academy revenue reserves 2016 to 2017, says 6.1 per cent of academy trusts had a cumulative deficit at the end of the academic year 2016-17, compared to 5.5 per cent at the end of 2015-16.

The cumulative deficit of these trusts was £65 million.

However, because smaller trusts are more likely to have a deficit, the proportion of academies that are in trusts with a deficit stood at 4.3 per cent - a total of 300.

In comparison, 91.6 per cent of trusts had a cumulative surplus, and 2.3 per cent had a zero balance.

The academy sector as a whole had a cumulative surplus of £2.4 billion, with the average reserves in trusts standing at £791,000.

The report also notes data the DfE published last year about local authority maintained schools, which showed that in the financial year 2016-17, almost one in 10 (9.1 per cent) had a cumulative deficit.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “It is clear that the academies sector and schools as a whole are feeling the effects of an unsustainable funding model.

“Earlier this year some of the largest academy trusts warned in their annual accounts of the risks that they faced due to funding pressures and highlighted deficits in the individual academies they oversee.

“The funding pressures on individual schools within trusts are not reflected in these figures.

“The rise in the number of academy trusts that are in deficit is another sign of the impact of the government’s cuts to school funding, cuts that will further limit pupils’ educational opportunities.”