State of Education Report 2017 state-of-education-booklet-Final-WEB | Page 9

For a MAT to be financially viable, however, current evidence suggests
it needs to have at least 1,200 pupils on roll to cover just the essential
6
costs, and around 5,000 pupils 7 to begin reducing average costs
Percentage of school leaders in different types of
schools who need to make savings to balance their
budget in the 2017/18 financial year:
across the trust. On 8 March 2017, fewer than half (47%) of MATs met
the first criteria 8 , and ju st under 4% met the second, suggesting that
existing MATs would need to grow considerably to solve the budget
challenges school leaders are facing.
Academy –
single
Can the necessary savings be made?
Academy –
in a MAT
74%
65%
Looking slightly longer term, we asked school leaders how confident
they are in their school’s ability to make any necessary savings over
Maintained
the next 12-24 months. The results are almost evenly split: nearly half
62%
(45%) of all leaders think that essential savings can be made and
50% feel less confident, with no notable difference between those in
primary and secondary schools.
School business managers tend to be optimistic, with almost six in 10
Primary
61%
(58%) confident of making savings, in contrast to just over four in 10
Secondary
73%
(44%) headteachers. More than one in 10 (14%) headteachers is ‘not at
all’ confident their school can make the necessary savings.
Despite being expected to fare better from the redrafted national
funding formula, a slightly smaller proportion of rural schools
(41%) than urban settings (46%) is confident of being able to make
Inland
Coastal
71%
63%
necessary cuts.
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