Maintained schools are struggling to make ends meet, statistics show

Figures from the Department for Education (DfE) show that the number of maintained schools that are struggling to make ends meet is at its highest in six years.

The data shows the funding for nursery schools fell by £232 per pupil last year and local authority spending on education and young people’s services is down £0.7 billion from 2015-16.

Spending has declined by 28 per cent since 2010-11, while the number of local authority maintained schools fell by 25 per cent over this period, according to the report.

The statistics also show that there has been an increase in the number of schools which are unable to balance the books, with 1,461 in deficit in 2016-17.

In 2016-17, 147 schools had zero revenue balance which accounts for 0.9 per cent of all schools.

Secondary schools have fared the worst in recent years, with more than one in four (26.3 per cent) in deficit in 2016-17 – up from 17.8 per cent the previous year.

The average deficit has risen by £44,000 – from £372,000 in 2015-16 to £416,000 last year.

The number of primary schools in deficit has also risen to 7.1 per cent in 2016-17 – a rise from 4.5 per cent the previous year.