Guides
Free, plain-English guides to school money: what the figures mean, how to read a deficit fairly, and what helps. Each one lists the official sources it relies on.
For parents and carers
- Reading a school's money page
What the figures on a School Money page mean, how to read a deficit fairly, and kind questions to ask your school.
For governors
- School money for governors
Questions to ask at a finance committee, how licensed deficits and recovery plans work, and how to read the figures fairly.
For PTFA and PTA committees
- Money for PTFA and PTA committees
Registering with the Charity Commission, Gift Aid, match funding, reporting your income, and working with the school's budget.
For school leaders
- School money for school leaders
Benchmarking with the DfE's tool and this site, free expert help from the DfE, buying support, energy, and talking to parents about the figures.
For pupils
- Where your school's money goes
A short guide for pupils aged 9 and up. Where a school's money comes from, what it pays for, and what saving and overspending mean.
For everyone
- Falling pupil numbers and school budgets
Why fewer pupils means a tighter budget even for a well-run school, what schools can do, and questions to ask.
- Special needs (SEND), high needs funding and the DSG
How support for pupils with special educational needs is paid for, why councils' high needs budgets are in deficit, and what the statutory override and the High Needs Stability Grant mean.
Free tools
- Budget check: Type in a school's income and spending for the next three years and see what would happen to its reserve, with the same five statuses the site uses.
- PTA planner: Plan a year of fundraising, see what Gift Aid adds and compare the result per pupil with parents' associations at other schools in the council.
- Embed a school's badge: Get a small badge showing a school's money status to paste into a school, PTFA or governors' website.
The tools run in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.