Funding meant to support poorer pupils is being used to plug gaps in school’s budgets, nearly a third of teachers have warned in a new survey.
The research, published by the Sutton Trust, found 30% of school heads said they are being forced to use their pupil premium funding to make up for cuts in school budgets.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the secondary school heads polled said that their school had cut back on teaching staff to save money. Over half (54%) of primary school heads have cut their number of teaching assistants with 29% reducing their support staff.
Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: ‘Our new polling adds to the growing evidence from highly credible sources that the squeeze on school budgets is having a detrimental effect on schools.
‘Of particular concern is that schools are having to use funding for poorer pupils to plug gaps in their finances. Many are having to get rid of teachers to close these funding gaps.’
The survey also early intervention schemes were the top priority for teachers when spending their pupil premium funding, followed by more one-to-tuition and teaching assistants. However, only 4% cited pupil feedback and 1% citing said peer-to-peer tutoring as a priority.
