Among head teachers surveyed 63 per cent are reporting cuts to teaching assistant posts this year, up on 2022’s figures when 42 per cent were reporting cuts.
This is part of a wave of cuts school leaders are having to carry out to tackle financial challenges.
The proportion reporting cuts to school trips has more than doubled, from 21 per cent last year to 50 per cent this year.
Among the hardest hit are schools in disadvantaged areas, with 68 per cent of head teachers in the most deprived schools reporting cuts to trips, compared with 44 per cent in the least disadvantaged areas.
Around two in five are reporting cuts to IT equipment and support staff. Meanwhile more than a quarter say they are slashing sports and extracurricular activities.
Cutbacks are also impacting the curriculum, with a quarter reporting cuts to subject choice, compared with 17 per cent reporting a trimming of subjects in 2022.
Meanwhile, seven out of ten head teachers are reporting challenges recruiting teachers, slightly higher than in 2019, when 70 per cent said they had difficulty hiring new teachers, including school leaders and newly qualified staff.
The findings have emerged in a survey, carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research for the Sutton Trust, of more than 1,400 teachers.
🚨 NEW: There has been a sharp increase in cuts to teaching assistants, school trips and IT equipment this year, our new research has found.
— The Sutton Trust (@suttontrust) April 26, 2023
It reveals a deeply concerning picture for our schools, with essential staff and activities being cut.
Read what we found ⤵️ 🧵 pic.twitter.com/0RZRz7qUTC
“Today’s polling paints a deeply concerning picture of our schools,” said Sutton Trust director of research and policy Carl Cullinane.
“In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and the continuing impacts of the pandemic, schools are having to cut essential staff and activities for pupils.
“The government must urgently review the funding given to schools, particularly those in the most deprived areas, in light of these trends.
“It is also vital that the government does not lose sight of the importance of education recovery and should urgently increase investment to ensure that no pupils are left behind.”
The survey also found that two in five schools are using pupil premium money to plug budget gaps. This is up from a third in 2022.
Cullinane added: “Funding for poorer pupils through the pupil premium is more important than ever in the context of these pressures.
“It is deeply concerning that increasing numbers of schools report having to use their pupil premium funding to plug budget gaps. It is vital that this funding is used to narrow the gaps in progress that have opened alarmingly in the wake of the pandemic.”
A report last month found that teaching assistants are among the hardest by the cost-of-living crisis, with 21 per cent experiencing food insecurity, according to the charity Food Foundation.
