The annual funding study conducted by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) shows that 18 per cent of schools are currently in deficit. This compares to eight per cent a year ago.
Furthermore, 71 per cent of schools say they are only able to balance their budgets by making cuts or biting into their reserves.
The most common cost-saving measure was cutting back on investment in equipment (85 per cent).
The study, which is based on schools’ budgets for 2016/17, involved more than 1,100 schools and the NAHT said the findings showed that many were “close to breaking point”.
A majority of the responding school leaders said that their budgets would be unsustainable by 2019, with increases in payroll cited as the biggest pressure. The NAHT says that payroll costs have resulted in increases to schools’ expenditure of 5.5 per cent but that there has been no additional government funding to compensate.
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