Nearly half of all schools will be unable to afford even a 1 per cent pay rise for teachers by 2019-20, according to a report on school funding published today by the Education Policy Institute thinktank.

Here are five other findings in the report:

1. Maintained secondary schools in deficit have trebled

In the four years to 2016-17, the proportion of local authority secondary schools in deficit nearly trebled, expanding to over a quarter of all such schools - or 26.1 per cent.

The proportion of primary schools in deficit also rose over the four-year period that the EPI looked at, from 4.4 per cent to 7.1 per cent.

The report says it is unclear why secondary schools are more likely to be in deficit than primary schools, but says some costs - such as energy costs - have risen at a faster rate for secondaries.

2. The average maintained secondary school deficit stood at £374,990 in 2016-17

This is an increase from £292,822 in 2010-11.

Comparable data on the balances of academies was not available.

3. The South West has the highest proportion of secondaries in deficit

The South West had 22.1 per cent of secondary schools in deficit in 2010-11, rising to 34.9 per cent in 2016-17.

The region with the lowest percentage throughout the period was the East of England, with 7.5 per cent of schools in deficit in 2010-11, rising to 17.5 per cent in 2016-17. 

4. More than two-thirds of maintained secondary schools spent more than their income in 2016-17

And 40 per cent had done so for at least two years. 

Meanwhile, three-fifths (61.4 per cent) of maintained primary schools spent more than their income in 2016-17.

5. Larger schools are finding it just as hard as smaller schools to reduce back-office costs 

The thinktank found “no obvious relation” between the proportion of funding spent on education staff costs and schools’ total revenue expenditure.

It says: “This suggests that larger schools (or more precisely, higher-spending schools) are not achieving (or are unable to achieve) economies of scale in relation to non-staffing costs.”

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