2023 Academies Benchmark Report

The 11th annual survey of over 320 Trusts representing over 2,400 schools is now available.

This fascinating report on the financial health of academies by Pam Tuckett, Head of Academies at Bishop Fleming and chair of Kreston Academies group is well worth reading.

Academies have once again reported surpluses, but not quite at last year’s record highs. These surpluses plus the £2.3billion financial support announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement last year will provide some relief with short term costs, but with trusts grappling with inflationary pressures and soaring energy costs on the horizon, being able to budget with any confidence remains a headache. The sector is seeing inflationary pressure on all costs, in particular salaries and uncertainty around rising non-staff costs.

The report identifies that MATs have grown to an average of 11.2 schools from 7.5 last year based on the report data. It is worth noting that they describe MATs as: small MAT – fewer than 3,000 pupils, medium MAT – 3,001 to 7,500 pupils and a large MAT – more than 7,500 pupils.

Some of the key points within the report:

• Supply cover costs as a result of high demand and shortages will increase further, with primary SATs reporting a staggering increase, up 76% from 20/21
• Payroll is by far the largest cost for the sector so it is unsurprising that one of the greatest concerns for budgetary planning for trusts was uncertainty around pay rises and inflation
• The most worrying non-staff cost for the sector now is energy costs, with many fixed priced deals now coming to an end
• Another cost that has been hugely affected by inflation is the cost of food, with food prices increasing by 14.5%.

Section two of the report summarises the information on governance within academies.