State of Education Report 2017 state-of-education-booklet-Final-WEB | Page 10

Percentage of school leaders who have to make
savings in the next financial year and expect to see the
following changes in their school as a result:
Staffing, buildings and the curriculum: where savings
will hit most
Staffing budgets will be squeezed most in 2017-18, with two-thirds
(66%) of all school leaders who need to make cuts expecting to make
Five most-cited changes:
Primary
most savings here. This tallies both with the proportion of school
Secondary
budgets devoted to staff costs (typically around three-quarters) and
69% 68%
Reduction in
support staff Reduction in
support staff
50%
Restricted use of
resources across
the school
45%
More resourcefulness
in the way we do
things
68%
Bigger class sizes
saving patterns to date. A Department for Education (DfE) study, for
example, found that between 2009-10 and 2013-14, 70% of a sample of
maintained schools reduced their staffing expenditure 9 .
More than two-thirds (68%) of school leaders who have to make
savings in 2017-18 plan to reduce support staff, and more than a
third (37%) expect to reduce teaching staff. Secondary schools are
more than twice as likely to cut teaching staff than primary schools,
64% with 64% versus 30% citing this to be the case respectively. This
Reduction in
teaching staff difference may be largely due to the greater number of teaching staff
in secondary schools. It might also be related to the fact that 57% of
secondary schools plan to narrow the curriculum as a result of budget
45% 57% strains compared to just one in 10 primary schools. Where subjects are
Less investment
in staff CPD Narrower
curriculum offer dropped, the need for particular subject teachers passes too.
39%
Reduced investment
in development and
maintenance of premises
The need to make savings also means bigger class sizes for almost
48% one-third (31%) of schools. Again, the difference between primary and
Less investment
in staff CPD secondary schools here is notable (20% and 68% respectively), with
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the infant-class size limit likely to be contributing to this contrast.
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