To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) maintained nursery schools, (b) local authority maintained primary schools, (c) maintained secondary schools, (d) primary academies and (e) secondary academy schools were in budget deficit in (i) the last and (ii) each of the preceding three financial years.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
24 July 2018
The Department trusts schools to manage their own budgets. The vast majority of schools are operating with a cumulative surplus, with only a small percentage in cumulative deficit. An academy trust may contain a mixture of primary and secondary academies. Trusts are the legal entities responsible for academies, including their finances and are accountable at trust level.
The most recent figures show that 9% of maintained schools are in cumulative deficit, compared to 6% of academy trusts. The proportion of all schools in cumulative deficit or in trusts with a cumulative deficit was lower in 2017 than it was in 2010 (7.6% versus 9.1%). Published data for 2010 covers local authority maintained schools only, reflecting the fact that almost all schools were local authority maintained at this point.
The table shows the proportion of maintained schools and academy trusts with a cumulative deficit each year from 2014/15 to 2016/17, the latest year for which data is available:
Percentage of maintained schools and trusts in cumulative deficit
2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | |
All maintained schools (including special and PRU schools) | 5.4% | 6.0% | 9.1% |
Nursery maintained schools | 10.6% | 12.7% | 18.2% |
Primary maintained schools | 4.2% | 4.5% | 7.1% |
Secondary maintained schools | 15.0% | 17.8% | 26.3% |
Academy trusts | 4.0% | 5.5% | 6.1% |
Percentage of schools in cumulative deficit or in trusts with a cumulative deficit
2009-10 | 2016-17 | |
All schools | 9.1% | 7.6% |