A survey by school leaders’ union NAHT, released today (Weds 4 June), reveals that 98% of school leaders say their school does not have sufficient funding to fully meet the needs of its pupils.

The new data comes a week ahead of the government’s Spending Review on Wednesday 11^th June, putting further pressure on the Treasury to announce fresh investment into education.

Despite the very welcome but limited extra funding brought by this government, NAHT is hearing from many of its members describing the desperate financial situation their schools are in, and the lengths they are going to to try and balance their budgets – with one head teacher fundraising by organising a fire walk which will see her literally walk on fire in September.

The survey also revealed the cuts school leaders are having to make, which will negatively impact both children’s education and the workload and wellbeing of school staff, with 46% saying they are anticipating having to reduce the number of teachers or teaching hours, and a massive 80% saying they will have to reduce the number of teaching assistants or teaching assistant hours.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “The Treasury must not underestimate the urgency of the case for fresh investment into education funding while making its decisions for the Spending Review.

“School budgets have been hard hit over the last decade thanks to austerity, Covid, rapidly rising costs, and ever-increasing levels of need. Recently there have been yet more blows, with pay and national insurance increases not being fully funded.

“School leaders are literally walking on fire for their pupils and staff. They are doing everything they can to make things work, but there are just no palatable moves left to make when it comes to finding the money needed to deliver education and support for children. We are hearing strongly from our members that redundancies and staff reductions are the only way to balance the books.

“Ultimately, this cannot help but negatively impact the education and support they are able to provide for pupils.

“We desperately need to see new money and sustained investment from the Treasury at the Spending Review. While public finances may be tight, it remains essential that children’s education, wellbeing and futures are prioritised, and it’s vital this is reflected in the financial decisions the government makes.”

NAHT received the following comments from its members illustrating the severity of the funding situation:

• “We are now in the unfortunate position of needing to set a deficit budget for this current financial year and for the next two financial years. The savings made last financial year mean that there are very few savings left to make without affecting the already strained staffing structure. Things are that dire that my PTFA are organising a fire walk in September where families can donate to our PTFA fund to see the Headteacher (aka me!) to literally walk on fire. I am pretty sure that is not on my job description.” (Primary head teacher)
• “This is the most difficult it has been in 20 years as a headteacher. I have never struggled to set the budget as much as I have this year. It has been years since we were properly funded and any reserves that we had have gone. Hard decisions have had to be made. It has been setting a budget that looks at which bad choice will have the lesser impact on our children. We have had a financial review looking at where we can make savings and the only recommendations they can suggest is staff. For the first time, at the end of the summer term, we are having to release all staff on fixed term contracts. That's 12 members of staff. There will be less adults supporting more children with higher needs. It's not for the good of the children. It’s not for the good of the school. It is purely to be able to balance a budget. There is just no money left and no economies to make.” (Primary head teacher)
• “The ongoing real-terms reductions to our school budget, exacerbated by unfunded or partly-funded pay awards, has resulted in staff reductions across the board. We have had to cut teachers, senior leaders and support staff which negatively impacts the support we are able to offer children academically, socially and with their mental health. We have to prioritise our statutory duties which means less children get early support and the school building repairs are delayed.” (Primary head teacher)
• “The reality is simple and stark. After years of unfunded or not fully funded pay rises we simply have nothing left to cut. Reserves at the end of last year stood at just over £7,000 and I have had to reduce the senior leadership team and not replace teachers and learning support assistants to get the budget to balance for next year.” (Secondary head teacher)
• “We now find ourselves facing an irretrievable deficit. This, regrettably, leaves us facing a substantial restructure, which will impact the school, and most alarmingly, the children, in numerous ways – risking every aspect of our three-year improvement to date. Quite simply, the loss of hours, the loss of staff and the loss of roles, which are crucial to the school’s survival against a plethora of national cuts and empty policy promises, leave us vulnerable to critical and imminent failure in 2026 and beyond.” (Primary school executive head teacher)
• “Education funding is in a dire state. School business leaders and heads are under such strain in trying to keep afloat whilst delivering a curriculum which improves and increases life chances for our children. Desktops in our school are 11 years old – how are our children meant to have an edge over children from other countries when we are unable to provide them with a desktop which can run Windows 11!” (Primary school business manager)
• “Our school is in an area of high deprivation, with a high level of pupils whose first language is not English, or who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). This means that our children, and parents, are extremely vulnerable. We are struggling to provide the correct level of support for all our children, including those with Education Health and Care Plans, as the funding available from government does not come close to paying for full time teaching assistants. We are having to make very challenging decisions in order to balance the budget, particularly as the new pay rises will not be properly funded.” (Primary school special educational needs coordinator (SENCO)
• “We suffer every time the DfE claim to have 'fully funded' something.  Once again, they fund on a per pupil basis, rather than actual costs, which as a London school means we fall short every time. The latest round has left us another £20,000 short. We have already made two support staff redundant, and we are not replacing four teachers who have other jobs. It means that going forward schools won't be able to deliver the breath of curriculum students deserve.” (Secondary school finance director)
• “Despite being given various government grants including the new core schools budget grant (CSBG) and the new National Insurance Contributions (NIC) grant, what we actually receive on the ground and the real-terms cost to our school budgets never quite matches. This means that despite the 'fully-funded’ claims - which are nonsense – there is always a gap we have to absorb which is becoming utterly unsustainable. I am now having to cut things that I find really unpalatable, as we now unsurprisingly find ourselves in the red. Unfortunately, as always, the ones that will be most at risk are our most disadvantaged students and families – including those with special educational needs or who receive free school meals.” (Secondary school business manager)
• “In the latest budgeting exercise, as a school we have had to make many cuts to enable us to have a balanced budget. This has affected staffing, curriculum enrichment and additional services we purchase. Leaders have had to take on additional responsibilities, initiatives which have proved worthwhile and led to improved results for our children have had to change and support staff are being redeployed in order to meet the increasing needs of the higher needs children we have in school. In turn this is impacting the remaining children in our school as adult: pupil ratios have decreased. This is on a strategic level never mind on a personal level - my own mental health and well-being is being affected as I am constantly worried about how as a school we are going to manage, meet the needs of our children and continue to raise standards.” (Primary head teacher)
• “Just today, I was asked about investing in what appears to be an exciting new computing curriculum – something that could be transformative for children whose future careers will look vastly different in the next few decades. But how do we balance that with the urgent need to improve the outdoor learning environment for our youngest children, many of whom start school significantly behind their peers nationally? Or with the pressing demands to refurbish outdated classrooms, replace and update curriculum resources, ensure secure perimeters, maintain our premises? The list of competing priorities is long, and each one is critical in its own right.” (Primary school business leader)
• “As a small rural school, we are facing an increasingly unsustainable situation. Despite rising needs, particularly in supporting children with SEND, we are being forced to reduce the number of classes, teachers, and support staff. At the same time, we are expected to deliver high-quality education, ongoing professional development, and school improvement within a budget that simply does not stretch far enough. Leadership must be deployed with care to meet multiple, urgent priorities, all while ensuring a safe and stimulating learning environment is maintained. Yet the rising wage bill, driven by necessary but underfunded pay increases, means that in real terms, our budget is shrinking. The pressure on our school and many like ours, is now critical.” (Primary head teacher)
• “Inadequate funding is forcing headteachers to make cuts in areas such as CPD (continuing professional development), resources, basic equipment, premises management, curriculum development and extra-curricular opportunities, to name a few. It's so oppressive for schools – this is what is leading to teachers’ and leaders’ stress on a day-to-day basis. Constantly having to search for the 'cheapest options' which aren't necessarily the most cost effective.”
• “I have spent most of Easter break and this week trying to balance a deficit budget. We have been hit incredibly hard by the NI increases and a LA that top sliced our budget due to their own shortfalls. We dropped over £300k this year, how can we sustain this? I am now faced with not replacing staff as they leave making it even harder to meet the needs of our ever increasingly complex children of which we have more and more.” (Primary head teacher)
• “We have had our accountants do an analysis of our funding to meet the 1.2% employers uplift on NI and it is pretty grim reading. For your information we have been allocated £19590 and our costs over the year are £27,912 leaving a deficit of £8322.  This is a shortfall of 30%. I understand the government accepts there are winners and losers but over £8k is really ridiculous. We've worked so hard on our finances including developing a nursery, taking over school meals, taking over our after-school club, moving our utilities, lighting, school insurance, etc this is a real kick in the teeth and very unfair.” (Primary head teacher)

NAHT’s funding survey had 1,091 respondents between 19^th and 22^nd May 2025.