Rising costs force ‘tough choices’ on schools.

Headteachers say they face “difficult choices” about what their schools can afford, as a new report says they could be forced into further cuts next year.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says spending will exceed funding for schools in 2025-26.

Schools say this means they will fight for the government’s proposed pay rise for teachers, as well as support for children with special educational needs.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it would work with schools and local authorities to “deliver a fair funding system that directs public money to where it is needed”.

The IFS estimates that school funding will increase by 2.8% in the financial year 2025-26. But Wednesday’s report warned that costs are likely to rise by 3.6 per cent, leaving schools with tough choices.

Staff salaries usually take up a large portion of a school’s budget. The government has suggested that teachers should be paid. 2.8 percent increase For the school year beginning in September 2025, according to the school’s spending plans.

While spending on schools has increased in recent years – offsetting previous cuts – spending on supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has also increased.

Marlborough St Mary’s School in Wiltshire has had to find money from its current budget to support pupils like six-year-old Thomas, who is awaiting an autism diagnosis.

Thomas, a first-year student, loves everything about space and the creatures that live under the sea, says his mother, Penny Reeder.

He has one-to-one support at school, but last year was refused an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – which sets out a child’s legal right to support and extra funding. A tribunal date to appeal the decision has been set for November.

Mrs Reeder says it is “absolutely crazy” that the school does not get extra funding to help Thomas, who previously would hide in the classroom when he became agitated and agitated.

“He just couldn’t cope with the other kids,” says Mrs. Reeder. “It was too noisy, too chaotic for him.”

Now, Thomas loves being at school and can attend all her lessons.

“It’s just so satisfying,” says Mrs. Reeder. “It’s great to see him flourish.”

“Without it, Thomas wouldn’t be here. This funding has made such a big difference.”

Headteacher Dan Crossman says the school has been in the red for most of the year, spending more money than it brings in.

They say they are faced with a choice between meeting the needs of the children or balancing the books.

Additional funding to support pupils with Send often takes time to materialise, he says.

Therefore, Mr Crossman employs six teaching assistants to meet the needs of children awaiting additional support, such as through the EHCP.

“It means they’re safe. It means they’re happy, and it means they’ve got an opportunity to learn in a mainstream school,” he says.

Mr Crossman says schools face “really tough” decisions, such as staff redundancies and cuts to counseling services.

The school has received financial support from a private donor to set up a forest school.

But Mr Crossman says such resources should come from the “core budget” rather than private investment.

The IFS says that between 2019 and 2024 spending per pupil in mainstream schools will rise by around 11 per cent, when adjusted for inflation.

But most of this increase came from the increased cost of send provision, meaning the actual increase was only 5%.

The new analysis comes as the government considers spending plans beyond 2026.

Steve Hitchcock, headteacher at St Peter’s Primary School in Devon, and the region’s National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) representative, says they have also had to find innovative ways to raise more money.

He says that providing top-up funding is now a “really important part” of his role.

“In the last year alone I’ve managed to raise £20,000 myself, which is being given to our very generous community,” he says.

An “absolutely fantastic” parent-teacher association raised £20,000 last year through sponsored challenges, film nights and discos at the school.

In the past, this money went to “cherry-on-top” activities like sports equipment. But now, he has to buy basic curriculum resources like paper, Mr. Hitchcock says.

Staff costs account for 85% of the school budget. Mr Hitchcock says the pay rise is “very important” to recruiting and retaining employees, and to ensuring it is a competitive profession.

The government’s proposal to raise teachers’ salaries by 2.8 per cent next year is being considered by the independent teachers’ pay review body.

Education unions have already called the proposal disappointingly low, but Mr. Hitchcock says he doesn’t know where the extra money will come from, even without a raise.

“A pay rise of around 3% means I have to find £30,000, which is not possible,” he says.

“We were desperately hoping that this government would take a different approach to funding schools. It’s going to be very challenging for the whole profession.”

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede says schools “do not have the capacity to make savings without reducing educational provision”.

Julie McCulloch, from the Association of School and College Leaders, says the financial pressures facing the sector are a “death by a thousand cuts”.

“Schools and colleges have been expected to absorb the financial pressures sustained over the last 15 years, and they have done an incredible job of reducing the impact on students,” he added. . “But we can’t go on like this.”

The Department for Education said school funding would rise to around £63.9bn in the next financial year, including £1bn for children and young people with high needs.

A spokesman said the government was “committed to fixing the foundations of the education system”.

Additional reporting by Hope Rhodes.