School Moneyby Schools in Reach
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Guide 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.

Benchmarking

The DfE's Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (FBIT) is the official place to compare a school or trust with similar schools. School Money uses the same published returns and adds:

  • every figure per pupil first, with the total, its year and its source;
  • the five money statuses, worked out the same way for every school;
  • council and constituency medians, so you can see a school in its local picture;
  • pins, so you can compare up to six schools side by side.

Two things to keep in mind when you compare:

Academy trusts can keep back part of their schools' funding to pay for things run centrally across the trust, such as administration, buildings or staff shared between schools. This is often called a 'top-slice'. Trusts spent £510 per pupil centrally in 2023–24 (in today's prices), more than double the £240 in 2016–17. Councils spent £180 per pupil centrally on the schools they run in 2023–24. The largest items are administrative and teaching staff employed by the trust. This means an academy's own accounts can look leaner than a council-run school's: some of the money spent on its pupils sits in the trust's accounts, not the school's. (IFS 2026 report, pp. 56–57)

£1 buys less each year as prices rise. 'Real terms' figures adjust for this so years can be compared fairly. Like the IFS, this site adjusts using the GDP deflator, the standard measure of economy-wide inflation used for public spending, and shows money in 2025–26 prices. Schools' own costs, mostly pay, can rise faster than general inflation, so a school can be better off in real terms and still feel squeezed. (IFS 2026 report, pp. 7, 23)

Free expert help from the DfE

School resource management advisers (SRMAs) are accredited sector experts who give schools and academy trusts peer-to-peer advice on using their revenue and capital resources. The DfE's SRMA programme also runs a free one-to-one mentoring programme for school business managers, school finance managers and chief financial and operating officers. Places are limited.

Buying

The DfE's Get help buying for schools service helps schools and trusts with buying, and its buying for schools guidance lists DfE-approved buying options. It also offers free training and webinars.

Energy

Energy contracts work differently from home energy. The DfE's guidance says:

  • do not let your contracts expire: at the end of a contract, if no action is taken, you move to a higher 'deemed rate';
  • compare quotes like for like, and see if you can buy through a DfE-approved buying option;
  • Energy for schools lets state-funded schools and trusts switch to the same energy contract the DfE uses. The DfE estimates schools could save up to 36% on their energy bills.

Talking to parents about the figures

Parents may see your school's status on School Money. If it shows a deficit or a tight reserve, it helps to say why and what the plan is. The guide for parents explains what the statuses mean and suggests kind questions they might ask, and the guide for governors covers recovery plans and licensed deficits.

Tools

  • The budget check runs your three-year forecast through the same status rules as the school pages.
  • The embed tool gives you a small badge for the school website, linking to your school's page.

Sources

Last reviewed .