Nearly half of headteachers are expecting to be forced to cut teachers’ jobs next year because of funding pressures, a poll by school leaders’ union the NAHT has found, prompting calls for new money for the sector at the Spending Review.
The NAHT’s survey, published today, found 46 per cent of heads responding said they would have to reduce the number of teachers or teaching hours over the next 12 months, while 80 per cent said they would have to cut teaching assistants or their hours.
It received 1,091 responses from its members between 19 and 22 May.
‘Walking on fire’
The government announced the teacher pay award of 4 per cent on 22 May, along with £615 million in additional funding for schools.
“School leaders are literally walking on fire for their pupils and staff. They are doing everything they can to make things work, but there are just no palatable moves left to make when it comes to finding the money needed to deliver education and support for children,” said Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary.
“We are hearing strongly from our members that redundancies and staff reductions are the only way to balance the books.”
More than half of heads responding to the NAHT’s poll (54 per cent) said senior leaders would have to take on additional non-teaching responsibilities next year, and 71 per cent said senior leaders would have to take on more teaching. Two-thirds (66 per cent) also said their school would have to reduce investment in continuing professional development.
A huge majority (98 per cent) of heads told the NAHT that they did not have sufficient funding in 2025-26 to fully meet the needs of all their pupils.
‘Irretrievable deficits’
Mr Whiteman said the sector “desperately” needs to see new money at the Spending Review on 11 June to avoid cuts negatively affecting the education and support schools can provide.
School and trust leaders told Tes they had been facing particularly bleak forecasts as they set their budgets for next year before the pay award was announced. Many at the time were assuming the pay award would be 2.8 per cent with no additional funding.
Institute for Fiscal Studies research fellow Luke Sibieta said schools will still need to make efficiency savings of just under 1 per cent to afford the award with the funding. This is only slightly better than the 1 per cent efficiency they were expected to make for a 2.8 per cent award with no additional funding.
Some of the heads who responded to the NAHT’s survey said they were having to fundraise as they set deficit budgets for next year, have no reserves left and are facing “irretrievable deficits”.
Fixed-term staff released
One primary head warned that a financial review of the school’s budget recommended staff as the only place it could make savings.
“For the first time, at the end of the summer term, we are having to release all staff on fixed-term contracts. That’s 12 members of staff,” the head said.
“There will be fewer adults supporting more children with higher needs. It’s not for the good of the children. It’s not for the good of the school. It is purely to be able to balance a budget. There is just no money left and no economies to make.”
An executive head at a primary school said the deficit their school is facing leaves the school looking at a “substantial restructure, which will impact the school and, most alarmingly, the children, in numerous ways - risking every aspect of our three-year improvement to date.”
The head added that the cuts will leave the school “vulnerable to critical and imminent failure in 2026 and beyond”.
