ST BENEDICT CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST: academy finances
8 academies with a full-year return, 0 of them in deficit at their latest return. A trust can move money between its academies, so an academy shown in deficit may be supported by the trust as a whole.
Most of a school's money pays for staff, so deficits usually build up when pay and other costs rise faster than funding, or when pupil numbers fall and the money that comes with each pupil goes too. What helps: a recovery plan agreed with the council or trust that brings the budget back into balance over a few years, regular forecasts that governors check, and early conversations about pupil numbers and special needs funding.
- 2024-25: 0 of 6 academies in deficit
in 2025-26 prices (HM Treasury GDP deflator, October 2026)
In 2024-25 the trust spent £239 per pupil centrally (cash), money that is not counted in its academies' own spending, or £244 in 2025–26 prices. The IFS average for all trusts in 2023-24 was £510 per pupil, in 2025–26 prices (IFS, p.56); the trust's figure above is for 2024-25, so the two are for different years.
Figures are each school's latest full-year return, total with the per-pupil figure beside it. PTA income is the school's share of its registered parents' association's latest return, in the school year that return falls in. Where no registered parents' association was found, the school may still have one: charities with an income of £5,000 or less need not register.
| School | Status | Reserve | Government funding | Spending | PTA income | PTA per pupil | Donations | Reserve per pupil trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heading for deficit | +£10k +£10 per pupil | £9.4m £10,249 per pupil | £9.8m £10,648 per pupil | No registered parents' association found | — | £26k £28 per pupil | ||
Tight | +£10k +£10 per pupil | £9.3m £9,686 per pupil | £9.7m £10,074 per pupil | No registered parents' association found | — | £9k £9 per pupil | ||
Healthy | +£112k +£254 per pupil | £3.1m £7,092 per pupil | £3.3m £7,556 per pupil | £24k £55 per pupil | £55 | £50k £113 per pupil | ||
Healthy | +£74k +£319 per pupil | £2.1m £9,109 per pupil | £2.1m £8,822 per pupil | No registered parents' association found | — | £6k £26 per pupil | ||
Healthy | +£116k +£282 per pupil | £2.7m £6,596 per pupil | £2.8m £6,878 per pupil | £37k £89 per pupil | £89 | £27k £66 per pupil | ||
Healthy | +£440k +£412 per pupil | £10.1m £9,514 per pupil | £5.4m £5,087 per pupil | No registered parents' association found | — | £43k £40 per pupil | ||
Large reserves | +£1.1m +£977 per pupil | £10.9m £9,680 per pupil | £11.2m £9,997 per pupil | No registered parents' association found | — | £14k £12 per pupil | ||
Large reserves | +£518k +£1,217 per pupil | £3.4m £7,892 per pupil | £3.4m £7,958 per pupil | No registered parents' association found | — | £19k £45 per pupil |
Sources: DfE Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool data (CFR returns for council-run schools, April to March; academy accounts returns, September to August), Get Information about Schools, DfE section 251 outturn (DSG balances), the Charity Commission register and the IFS annual report on education spending in England 2025–26 (IFS figures in 2025–26 prices, November 2025 deflator). Open Government Licence v3.0. Check at source: DfE benchmarking for this trust. How these figures are worked out