The government cannot ignore an Ofsted report warning that schools are facing “significant financial pressure” headteachers said today.
The NAHT school leaders union’s general secretary Paul Whiteman said the new report makes clear that Ofsted thinks schools are not getting enough funding.
He highlighted the report’s findings that 42 per cent of primary heads and 48 per cent of secondary heads expect their schools to be in debt by the end of the year.
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Ofsted has published its report into school finances today following controversy over a blog written by Amanda Spielman that was published earlier this week.
Mr Whiteman said: “In this new report, Ofsted says clearly that schools are ‘under significant financial pressure’.
“We can be in no doubt that Ofsted thinks school funding is insufficient and that this is having a negative impact on young people.
“The chief inspector’s comments are impossible for the government to ignore.
“So close to the Budget, it will be difficult for the new chancellor to talk about ‘record levels of school funding’ when the government’s own school inspectorate reports that 42 per cent of primary leaders and 48 per cent of secondary leaders say that their schools will be in debt by the end of the 2019-20 budget year.”
Mr Whiteman also challenged Ms Spielman’s suggestion in her blog that any new additional funding schools receive could be “squandered”.
He said: “I disagree with the chief inspector’s assertion that schools have made poor choices about funding when other, better decisions were possible.
‘School leaders do not squander money’
“School leaders do not ‘squander’ money. They are infinitely resourceful at getting the most out of every penny. They have to be, because the school funding picture in the UK is anything but plentiful.
“Schools have faced 8 per cent real-terms cuts since 2010. It is only school leaders’ effective financial control that has kept schools afloat during this time.
“System-wide, school leaders have demonstrated their good judgement time after time. Their good judgement has shielded many staff and pupils from the worst effects of the cuts, often at great personal cost to themselves.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We recognise schools have faced cost pressures in recent years. That is why we are providing the biggest funding boost for schools in a decade, giving every school more money for every child.”
