More than half of secondary school leaders report teaching staff cuts – poll
Secondary schools are increasingly using funding for disadvantaged pupils to plug budget holes, a survey for Sutton Trust suggests.
Around half of senior leaders in secondary schools have had to cut back on teaching staff, teaching assistants and support staff this year, a survey suggests.
More secondary schools leaders are making cuts to staff compared to last year due to a squeeze on finances, according to a poll for the Sutton Trust.
The survey by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) suggests more senior leaders are also reducing the subject choices they offer at GCSE (33%) and A-level (29%) compared to last year due to funding pressures.
The poll, of 1,208 teachers and senior leaders in England, suggests that more secondary schools are using pupil premium funding – which is extra funding provided to schools to support disadvantaged pupils – to plug gaps elsewhere in their school’s budget than last year.
Nearly half (45%) of senior leaders in secondary schools said the funding for disadvantaged pupils was being used to plug budget holes – which is the highest level since the Sutton Trust began publishing polling in 2017.
Of these, two in three (66%) said the funding was being used to cover costs associated with staff salaries.
