What are the main obstacles to meeting the demand?
Of those schools that reported facing extra demand for places, nearly
nine in 10 (86%) would find the demand difficult to fully meet with their
current budget, buildings and facilities; for almost six in 10 (58%) it
would be ‘very difficult’.
Only 14% of school leaders in oversubscribed schools say they would be
able to meet the additional demand with current resources. Those in the
south west are the most confident, with 15% of leaders in oversubscribed
schools saying that accommodating the additional applicants would be
‘fairly easy’ and five per cent saying it would be ‘very easy’.
In schools that would find it difficult to meet the demand, lack of space
for additional buildings (25%), insufficient school budgets (22%) and
school buildings not being fit for purpose (19%) are considered to be
the main obstacles – ahead of staffing-related issues. The results show
slightly different pictures in primary and secondary settings though:
while over a fifth (22%) of secondary school leaders say that recruiting
more staff to meet pupils’ needs would be their biggest challenge, this
is true for only one in 10 (13%) of their primary counterparts.
School leaders across both phases appear confident in the quality of
education currently provided for their existing pupils, with very few
(three per cent) of those whose schools couldn’t meet the additional
demand for places indicating this is due to the quality of provision.
Bethany Walton, researcher at The Key, explains:
"We see concerns about sufficient school
places reflected in the questions we
receive from school leaders. They’ve
been asking if and when their school
must accept certain pupils, and when a
local authority’s direction to accept extra
pupils can be challenged.
We also know that schools are increasingly having to do
more with less money, and it is therefore not surprising
to see ‘insufficient budgets’ identified as one of the main
obstacles preventing schools from providing for more
pupils to fully meet current demand.
However, school leaders are seeking ways of being
more resourceful with their budgets – our articles on
generating additional income, achieving good value
for money and benchmarking spending have proven
popular in the last 12 months. Rather than shrinking from
the problem, school leaders are actively seeking ways to
make their money go further and cope with challenging
circumstances like probable increases in cohorts.”
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State of Education Survey 2016 | www.thekeysupport.com
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