Audit Commission

Schools are big spenders, but after years of growth they are now feeling the pinch and having to find savings.

England's maintained* schools spent over £35 billion in 2009/10, which is around £5,000 for each pupil. Over three-quarters of this is spent on school staff, one of the country's largest public sector workforces.

Now the Audit Commission is publishing a set of briefings to help schools use all their staff - whether teachers, teaching assistants, or administration and finance staff - as efficiently as possible.

The four briefings, under the heading Better value for money in schools examine patterns of spending in maintained* schools in England. They aim to help school heads, governing bodies and councils to control costs without compromising educational attainment.

Revenue spending on schools has risen by 28 per cent in real terms in the last seven years. The number of teachers has gone up by 8 per cent since 1997, over the same period as pupil numbers dropped by 2 per cent. And schools now employ more non-teaching staff than they did seven years ago.

Chairman of the Audit Commission, Michael O'Higgins says:

'Schools differ from other local public services because they enjoy greater autonomy and have greater financial freedoms. Each school in the country has its own circumstances, its own constraints and priorities. But now every school faces the same challenge of tightening budgets.'

'Our briefings explain the cost implications of different ways of managing a school's workforce. For example, spending on teaching assistants has more than doubled in less than ten years to £2.2 billion a year, and now they make up a quarter of the primary school workforce. But it is very surprising that such growth has occurred when there is no consistent evidence of their impact on pupils' attainment or teachers' workload.'

'School leaders and governors will wish to explore whether they could make different choices about their workforces that could save money without damaging attainment.'

The Commission's report in 2009 Valuable Lessons found that £425 million could be saved if schools were better at buying goods and services. In these latest publications it broadens the focus to schools' most expensive asset, their workforce.

The Better value for money in schools briefings look at four areas where schools have scope to improve efficiency:

• The deployment of classroom staff, including class sizes and allocation of teachers and teaching assistants;
• The breadth and focus of schools' curriculum offer;
• Approaches to covering for staff absence, including supply teachers; and
• The size, cost and composition of the wider (non-teaching) school workforce.

They are based on analysis of information from Department for Education Spending Data, GCSE entries, numerous other 2010 data sets, and fieldwork in four local authority areas. An online survey of the 2,000 members of the NASBM (the professional body for school bursars and financial managers in schools in England and Wales) was also carried out.

The analysis shows that:

• Schools with smaller classes spend more on teachers, yet there is no demonstrable relationship between class size and attainment;
• Teachers comprised three quarters of the workforce in 2003, but this had fallen to just over two thirds by 2010;
• The number of teaching assistants has risen by over 90 per cent since 2003 in primary, secondary and special schools. In primary schools they now constitute a quarter of the workforce. Spend has more than doubled to £2.2 billion since 2002/03. But evidence of their impact on pupils' attainment or teachers' workload is inconsistent;
• The number of GCSEs offered by secondary schools varies greatly. On average schools offer pupils a range of 24 subjects at GCSE, yet some offer as many as 42. Head teachers and school business managers agree that greater collaboration with other schools could save money;
• Schools spend £875 million a year on supply teachers, with agency teachers on the increase and directly employed staff decreasing. There has been little reduction in spending on supply teachers since 2003 despite increasing numbers of Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) able to provide cover;
• Levels of sickness absence vary, and reducing some of the highest rates could save £14 million worth of staff time a year.

* Almost all state-funded schools in England are maintained schools, receiving their funding from local authorities, and are required to follow the national curriculum. In such schools all teachers are employed under the nationally-agreed School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document

Notes to editors

1. View the four Better value for money in schools briefing papers.
2. The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
3. Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers.
4. On 13 August 2010 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced that he plans to disband the Audit Commission.

For more details about the role of the Audit Commission visit www.audit-commission.gov.uk

For further information please contact:
Mark Nicholson
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Audit Commission
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E-mail: m-nicholson@audit-commission.gov.uk