CYP Now - Schools forced to make cuts amid cost-of-living crisis, report warns

School leaders have raised concerns after their settings made cuts to provision amid rising costs, as new research finds nearly half of special schools and primary schools are reporting an in-year deficit this academic year.

More than half of the most disavantaged primary schools were forced to cut provison due to high costs. Picture: Monkey Business/Adobe Stock

Some 49 per cent of primary schools, 48 per cent of special schools, and 41 per cent of secondary schools had or were expecting to have an in-year deficit in 2022/23, the report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has found.

It adds that school staff believe the situation will worsen over the coming year, with just under half of mainstream schools and two-fifths of special schools expecting an in-year deficit in 2023/24, that will force them to make cuts to provision.

Four-fifths of all schools consulted have already made cuts to provision in response to the increased cost of living, the report notes, such as reducing spending on learning resources, reducing core specialist school offers, and cutting staff, targeted learning support and wraparound care.

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