“Money Often Costs Too Much”: The Outlook for School Funding and Budgets in 2025 and Beyond

School funding remains one of the most pressing challenges facing the sector, with leaders balancing rising costs, staffing pressures and widening responsibilities. This recorded panel from the Schools & Academies Show brought together leading voices in education finance and policy to discuss the realities of the 2025 budget landscape and the tough decisions ahead.

This discussion focused on key themes such as:

🌍 Regional inequalities – schools in areas like the North East face compounded challenges of long-term disadvantage, rural isolation and underfunded public services that shift additional costs onto education.

📊 Funding formula frustrations – while the National Funding Formula aims for fairness, inconsistencies remain. Questions continue over whether the “average school model” reflects the true cost of running a classroom in diverse contexts.

👥 The human cost – teacher pay deals, support staff funding gaps and SEND provision pressures are forcing schools to weigh financial stability against educational quality and inclusion.

🏫 Trusts, pooling & scale – economies of scale can help, but growth plans are being paused as leaders fear the risks of expansion in today’s climate. GAG pooling offers opportunities, but also sparks debate around fairness within trusts.

🔮 What next? – panellists warned that innovation should not mask systemic underfunding. Without long-term investment and recognition of education as a national priority, schools may be forced to show the cracks by submitting deficit budgets or cutting essential services.

Panelists include:

• Julia Harnden – Deputy Director of Policy and Funding Specialist, ASCL

• Stephen Morales – CEO, ISBL

• Pauline Aitchison – Deputy Director, Schools North East

• Jon Severs - Editor, TES

🎧 Listen to the full session for free below and explore how sector leaders are navigating the tough school funding climate 👇