Big spike in schools using funding for disadvantaged pupils to plug budget holes, threatening delivery of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

More school leaders are cutting back on teaching staff, teaching assistants and support staff compared to last year due to a squeeze on their finances, according to new polling released today. Secondary schools appear to be the worst affected.

The survey of 1,208 teachers, conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) for the Sutton Trust as part of their Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey, reveals sharper cuts than in 2024, with growing staff reductions along with cuts in spending for a range of courses.

51% of secondary school senior leaders reported making cuts in teaching staff, up from 38% last year, while 50% reported cuts to teaching assistants, up from 41% last year. 55% reported further cuts to support staff, up from 51%. These figures are the highest they’ve been since 2020, and cuts at primary schools are at their highest since the Sutton Trust began polling this issue in 2017.

Ahead of the findings from the Curriculum and Assessment Review conducted by the Department for Education (DfE), there has been a marked increase in the number of secondary school senior leaders having to reduce the choices they offer at GCSE (33%, up from 29% last year) and A level (29%, up from 23%).

A staggering 88% of senior leaders across all schools said the pupil premium – extra funding provided to schools to support disadvantaged pupils – is less than they need to serve those pupils. Most concerning of all, there has been a 13 percentage points increase in the proportion of secondary school leaders reporting using the pupil premium to plug gaps elsewhere in their school’s budget since 2024, from 32% to 45%. This is the highest result since this polling question was first asked in 2017. Staffing is one of the main costs being covered by this funding.

53% of all school leaders are cutting spending on trips and outings, up from 50% last year, while 33% of school leaders have reported cuts to sports and other extracurricular activities, up from 27%. This is the highest level since 2017, indicating mounting funding pressures across the school system.

There has been a substantial increase in secondary school leaders reporting cuts to IT equipment, up from 36% to 48%, although primary school leaders are still cutting more (56%). This is at odds with the Government’s intentions to increase the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools.

37% of senior leaders across both secondary and primary schools have also stopped offering tutoring to pupils since 2024, after the previous Government’s National Tutoring Programme (NTP) ended last summer. Last year, 51% of senior leaders were still using this scheme for either tuition partners, academic mentors or for school-led tutoring sourced locally.

The NTP was set up in the wake of the pandemic to help pupils catch up with lost learning. Although the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged pupils is at its widest in more than a decade, there has been no commitment to dedicated funding for tutoring to support for those who need it.

With the Spending Review just two months away, the Sutton Trust is calling for a new national strategy to close the attainment gap, including restoring the pupil premium in real terms, as its value has fallen by 20% since 2014/15. The national funding formula should be reformed to ensure schools facing the highest needs have adequate funding. The existing Levelling Up Premium for qualified teachers should also be increased and extended to additional subjects to better support teachers of key courses in the most disadvantaged schools.

Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, said:

‘State schools are overwhelmed with financial pressures, and many are rapidly heading towards breaking point. This is having a devastating impact on their ability to provide the support that the most disadvantaged pupils need, with almost half of secondary school leaders forced to use funding intended for poorer pupils to plug budget holes.

‘If action isn’t taken, we’ll be failing the next generation. School funding must be protected in the forthcoming Spending Review if the Government is serious about breaking down barriers to opportunity. Urgent action is needed, starting with carefully targeted measures to rebalance funding towards schools in the most deprived areas.’

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Notes to editors:

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is a leading independent provider of education research. The NFER runs Teacher Voice Omnibus Surveys three times a year, in the autumn, spring and summer terms. The robust survey achieves responses from over 1,000 practising teachers from schools in the publicly funded sector in England. The panel is representative of teachers from the full range of roles in primary and secondary schools, from head teachers to newly qualified class teachers. 1,208 practising teachers in the publicly funded sector in England completed the survey online between 7-12 March 2025.