State of Education Report 2017 state-of-education-booklet-Final-WEB | Page 8

Budget pressures mean making savings, but how much?
Financial autonomy and economies of scale:
how are MATs faring?
Across the board, more than six in 10 (64%) school leaders say they
need to make savings to balance their budget in the 2017-18 financial Three-quarters (74%) of leaders in standalone academies need to make
year. The NAO reports that schools are facing the greatest cuts in savings to balance their budget in 2017-18, alongside nearly two-thirds
spending power since the mid-1990s , so these findings are as expected. (65%) of those in MATs and just over six in 10 (62%) in maintained
2
schools. Many schools in MATs, though, are having to make bigger
The secondary phase is worst-hit: a quarter (26%) of secondary savings: nearly a quarter (22%) need to cut more than 8% of their
schools will need to cut more than 8% of their expected costs, expected costs in 2017-18, compared to 20% of single academies and
alongside nearly two in 10 (17%) primaries. A further 23% of secondary 18% of maintained schools.
and 16% of primary schools will need to make savings of 5-8%.
While financial autonomy was the most-cited reason for academy
While the majority of school leaders in every region need to make some conversion 3 in a 2014 Reform/SSAT survey, there is clearly more to be
savings, one in four (25%) in the south east needs to cut more than 8% done to help these schools stay solvent. Academy chains are expected
of expected costs, in comparison to just over one in 10 (13%) in Yorkshire to play a role: the government expects high-quality sponsors to deliver
and Humberside and the east Midlands. The impact of budget pressures economies of scale and stronger financial sustainability 4 – and with
is also more wide-reaching in coastal areas: 71% of coastal schools need 97% of all academies which opened in 2015/16 now part of a MAT 5 ,
to make savings in 2017-18, compared to 63% of those inland. now is the time for sponsors to step up.
To balance the budget in the 2017-18 financial year, my school would need to make savings of:
0-2% of our
expected costs
7%
2-5% of our
expected costs
21%
5-8% of our
expected costs
17%
STATE OF EDUCATION 2017 | WWW.STATEOFED.THEKEYSUPPORT.COM
More than 8% of
our expected costs
19%
Don’t know
N/A – we expect to
achieve a budget
surplus N/A – we expect to
balance our budget
without making savings
3% 5%
28%
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