The Kreston UK Academies Benchmarking Report 2024 was issued in early February 2024.

Below we have detailed some key highlights:

• Average revenue income per pupil has increased across all trusts by at least by 3.8% and up to 11%.
• Average non-staff costs have seen an increase of 16% from the previous year, mainly related to a minimum increase of 49% in energy expenditure, with some Trusts seeing costs almost double over the last two years.
• Across all Trusts, staff costs as a percentage of total costs have reduced in absolute terms by between 3.2% and 1.1%.
• Expenditure forecasting will include the 5% increase in Teachers Pension employer contribution from April 2024, which will be fully funded for the first year. If this additional funding doesn’t continue, budgeting for future years will become even more challenging.
• 48.8% of Trusts stated that their free reserves were more than their reserves policy. This equates to over 80% of the sector identifying that the reserves held are at an adequate level. Those falling under this threshold, will potentially face a big financial challenge with costs continuing to rise, and reduced funding.
• The ESFA issued guidance in November 2023 regarding what would be deemed a reasonable level of reserves including the principles of reserves setting and factors which Trusts should consider. It is likely that the ESFA will begin making enquiries if reserves are below 5% of total income or more than 20% of total income.

Register for our upcoming webinar: Kreston UK Academies Benchmark Report 2024

Presented by

We are delighted to invite you to join our free webinar 'Kreston UK Academies Benchmark Report 2024', during which our Academy specialists, Darren O'Connor and Rebecca Foy, will look deeper into the detail of the report and issues faced by Academies and Multi-Academy Trusts to provide you with insights into what 2024 may have to hold for the sector. There will be interesting content for everyone, whether you are a Trustee, Governor, Head Teacher, School Business Manager or Director. 

If you happen to miss our webinar, we will email you a recorded version.  

Contact Us

If you would like to arrange a virtual meeting to discuss your specific circumstances in relation to any of the above, please get in touch with your usual contact within James Cowper Kreston or contact me using the details below.

Samantha Hall

Senior Manager

T: +44 (0)7866 730870 | E: shall@jamescowper.co.uk

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