Financial year 2022-23

LA and school expenditure

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• Published: 25 January 2024
• Next update: December 2024
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This release contains information on income, expenditure, and revenue reserves of local authority (LA) maintained schools for the financial year 2022-23. 

It also includes expenditure by local authorities on schools, education and community services, and children’s and young people’s services. 

This release does not include expenditure by academies. The number of schools that have converted to academies continues to increase, therefore caution should be exercised when drawing comparisons over time.

You may also wish to view the Schools Financial Benchmarking website for school level data and comparisons.

Please note that figures are presented in cash terms and are not adjusted for inflation.

‘Explore data and files’ contains files that underpin this release and allows expert users to interrogate and analyse data for themselves. For pre-populated summary statistics please see the relevant section below, from which the data can be further explored using the ‘Explore data’ functionality. You can also view featured tables or create your own tables using the ‘create tables’ functionality.

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Headline facts and figures - 2022-23

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School income and expenditure

Information on income, expenditure and revenue reserves of local authority (LA) maintained schools is sourced from Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) returns that are provided by schools. 

The number of schools that have converted to academies has increased over time. This publication does not include income and expenditure for academies who return their financial information through Academy Accounts Returns. As the proportion of academies increases, the number of LA maintained schools required to make a CFR return decreases. For the financial year 2022-23, 11,863 LA maintained schools made a CFR return, 2.9% lower than in 2021-22 and 29.3% lower than in 2015-16. Therefore, caution should be exercised when comparing trends over time and overall totals should not be used for comparison purposes.

School-level information is not included in this publication. Information at school level is published on the Schools Financial Benchmarking website, this includes school level files which are available for download here.

i) School income

In the financial year 2022-23, the total income of LA maintained schools was £24.9 billion, 3.3% higher than in 2021-22 and equates to £7,011 per pupil,  6.1% higher than in 2021-22.

School income includes:

• Funds delegated by the LA for schools; this is reflected in the publication section LA Expenditure on Schools, Other Education and Community.
• Funds for minority ethnic pupils and those with special educational needs
• Pupil premium grants
• Other grants and funding
• Self-generated income.

Income also included grants from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the DfE grant scheme for reimbursing exceptional costs associated with COVID-19, and income from the COVID-19 recovery premium. This is the third reporting year of COVID-19 grants. The recovery premium is part of the government’s package of funding to support pupils whose education has been impacted by COVID-19

The total income for LA maintained schools was slightly higher in 2022-23 in cash terms compared to 2021-22. The number of schools (and subsequently pupils) in receipt of this income was lower. Therefore comparisons of income per pupil give a better picture of the trend in school income since 2015-16. 

For the majority of school types, total income per pupil has risen slightly, the exception being pupil referral units where total income per pupil has fallen slightly. Places in both pupil referral units and special schools attract high needs funding therefore per pupil income is substantially higher for these school types. 

94.7% of funding came from LA funding and other grants (of which 1.1% was COVID-19 grants) and 5.3% was self-generated. LA funding is detailed in the section LA Expenditure on Schools, Other Education and Community.  

LA maintained schools received, in total, £23.7 billion in grant funding for the financial year 2022-23, this consisted of: 

• £19.5 billion delegated by the LA (including sixth form funding),
• £1.9 billion funding for special educational needs (SEN), this includes top up funding and disability access fund,
• £1.1 billion for pupil premium,
• £849.1  million from other grants (including extended school funding),
• £270.3 million in COVID-19 related grants, 89.9% of this is from COVID-19 catch up funding and recovery grants,
• £44.6 million for community focused school funding,
• £22.6 million for minority ethnic pupils.

Schools self-generated £1.3 billion of income in 2022-23 (5.3% of all income); an increase of 17.1% from 2021-22. 

Increases were seen across all but one categories of self-generated income. However figures for self-generated income still remain lower than in 2019-20. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities for schools to self-generate income in 2020-21 were limited and therefore this income stream decreased from £1.4 billion to £0.7 billion. Although there was an increase in self generated income in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, the amounts of income generated by schools are still lower for most categories than in the financial year immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

For the year 2022-23:

• Contributions to visits, residential trips, field trips, and boarding fees - these increased to £185.5 million in 2022-23. This is a 55.6% increase from 2021-22, however this income stream remains 2.6% lower than in 2019-20.
• Income from donations and private funds increased to £136.2 million in 2022-23, 14.8% higher than in 2021-22 but 11.5% lower than in 2019-20.
• Income from catering was £222.3 million, 7.3% higher than in 2021-22 but 7.8% lower than in 2019-20.
• Income from all lettings, facilities and services increased to £640.4 million, 17.5% higher than 2021-22 but 0.9% lower than in 2019-20.

Full details of all school income can be found in Table 1.

ii) School expenditure

Gross expenditure: Financial spending by LA maintained schools, before any deductions are made.

Net expenditure: Financial spending following deductions of income from catering, supply teacher insurance and community-focussed income.

Gross expenditure reported by LA maintained schools has increased. Between the years 2011-12 and 2020-21 gross expenditure decreased year on year. This trend reversed in 2021-22 with an increase in gross expenditure, this trend has continued into 2022-23.  The decrease was driven primarily by school conversion to academy status and therefore reduction in the number of schools included within this publication. In the latest two years, this decrease in the number of LA maintained schools has slowed. 

In the financial year 2022-23, LA maintained schools' gross expenditure was £25.1 billion, 5.1% more than in 2021-22 when total expenditure was £23.9 billion:

• £11.3 billion (45.1%) spent on teaching staff,
• £4.8 billion (19.0%) spent on education support staff,
• £2.7 billion (10.9%) spent on supplies and services,
• £1.5 billion (6.0%) spent on premises and occupation related costs,
• £0.7 billion (2.8%) on supply and agency teachers,
• £4.1 billion (16.2%) on other spend, including staff training, indirect employee expenses, costs of finance, community costs and insurance payments.

The largest increase in expenditure has been on energy costs. These increased by 60.8%, from £301.8 million to £485.3 million in 2022-23. Other areas which have seen increases in expenditure include: 

• Agency supply teachers, £486 million in 2022-23, a 17.0% increase from 2021-22,
• Bought in professional services relating to the curriculum, £566 million in 2022-23, an 11.3% increase from 2021-22,
• Learning resources, £953 million in 2022-23, a 17.0% increase from 2021-22,
• Catering supplies and staff, £937 million in 2022-23, a 6.8% increase from 2021-22.

Full details of all school expenditure can be found in Table 2.

In 2022-23, £698.1 million was spent on supply teaching costs, a 12.3% increase from 2021-22. The total spend on supply teachers and agency supply teachers is now similar to that of 2018-19. 

This includes:

• £110.4 million on supply teaching staff employed directly by the school. This is 3.3% higher than in 2021-22,
• £485.6 million on agency supply teaching staff, 17.0% higher than in 2021-22, 
• £102.1 million on supply teacher insurance. This is 2.1% lower than in 2020-21 and continues a decreasing trend since 2015-16. Supply teacher insurance includes premiums paid to insurers for supply teacher cover and to the LA for centrally managed supply schemes. 

Spend on supply teaching varies by phase

Spend per pupil on supply teaching was highest in pupil referral units. It accounted for 6.3% of all staffing costs in 2022-23 and totalled £1,411 per pupil - the majority of this for agency supply teachers. This compares to:

• Special schools - spend per pupil on supply teachers was £846 and accounted for 4.0% of all staffing costs in 2022-23. 
• Secondary schools -spend per pupil on supply teachers was £155 and accounted for 2.9% of all staffing costs.
• Primary schools - spend per pupil on supply teachers was £180 and accounted for 3.8% of all staffing costs. 
• Nursery schools - spend per pupil on supply teachers was £229 and accounted for 2.7% of all staffing costs. 

In 2022-23, LA maintained schools spent £4.8 billion on education support staff. Education support staff include teaching assistants, who are more widely employed in primary schools, pupil referral units and special schools.

19.3% of total gross expenditure in primary schools and 33.5% in special schools was spent on education support staff. For pupil referral units, 18.1% was spent on education support staff. This compares to 10.7% in secondary schools. These percentages are similar to 2021-22 .

Higher supply teacher costs and higher education support staff costs both contribute to the higher spending per pupil seen in pupil referral units and special schools. However, places in both pupil referral units and special schools attract high needs funding as additional costs are needed to support the needs of pupils placed in these settings. Hence the expenditure per pupil is consistently higher across years for both pupil referral units and special schools.

Gross expenditure per pupil varies by local authority, with the highest in Inner London. This is generally the case for all phases of school.   

iii) School revenue balances

School revenue balance:  The financial balance at the end of the year once income, expenditure, committed expenditure and previous year's revenue balance have been taken into account.

Deficit: When a school's expenditure is higher than this year's income, once the previous year's balance has been taken into account. A negative revenue balance.

Surplus:  When a school's expenditure is lower than this year's income, once the previous year's balance has been taken into account. A positive revenue balance.

In 2022-23, of the 11,863 schools that submitted CFR returns:

• 1,552 (13.1%) schools were in deficit,
• 10,258 (86.5%) were in surplus,
• 53 (0.4%) had a revenue reserve of 0.

The percentage of schools in deficit increased to 13.1%, from 8.8% in 2021-22.  

In 2020-21, the percentage of schools in deficit fell. Due to school closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools reduced their spend on areas such as supply staff, energy, catering and school supplies. Although they also lost self-generated income such as that from lettings and catering, the amount of income lost was generally lower than the amount saved on expenditure, therefore increasing their revenue reserve. As schools returned to more usual ways of working, expenditure increased and although self-generated income is increasing, it is not yet back (in cash terms) to pre pandemic levels. In addition expenditure is rising faster than income resulting in more schools having a deficit. Income rose by 3.3% in 2022-23 while expenditure rose by 5.1%. 

In 2022-23, the average revenue balance per school decreased to £162,800 from £178,500 in 2021-22. 

The percentage of schools in deficit has increased for all school phases between 2021-22 and 2022-23. By school phase, in 2022-23:

• Nursery schools - the percentage in deficit increased to 32.5% from 29.7% in 2021-22.
• Primary schools - the percentage in deficit increased to 12.3% from 7.6% in 2021-22.
• Secondary schools - the percentage in deficit increased to 13.4% from 12.9% in 2021-22.
• Pupil referral units - the percentage in deficit increased to 17.2% from 14.6% in 2021-22,
• Special schools - the percentage in deficit increased to 12.9% from 9.8% in 2021-22.

The number and percentage of schools in surplus/deficit, plus total amounts of revenue reserves are available in Table 3.

Regional variation in percentage of schools in deficit

There were 17 local authorities with no primary schools in deficit. These are mostly in the Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East or North West.  There were 21 local authorities where more than a quarter of primary schools were in deficit, the majority were in London or the South East. 

For secondary schools, there were 79 local authorities with no schools in deficit. 

Local authority expenditure

Local authority (LA) expenditure is collected via Section 251 Outturn returns. 

In the financial year 2022-23, local authorities spent a total of £46.9 billion on schools, other education and community, and children's and young people's services. Of which, school expenditure accounted for 63.6%, a slightly lower percentage than in 2021-22 (65.2%).

Total gross expenditure for the financial year 2022-23 was:

• Schools (which forms part of LA maintained school income) - £29.8 billion,
• Other education and community - £3.8 billion,
• Children's and young people's services - £13.3 billion.

This publication does not include income and expenditure for academies, although the rate of conversion in an individual year has started to slow, the number of schools that have converted to academies has increased over time. As the proportion of academies increases, expenditure of LAs on maintained schools tends to decrease. Therefore, caution should be exercised when comparing trends over longer time periods and overall totals should not be used for comparison purposes.

i) Expenditure on schools, other education and community

In 2022-23, LA gross expenditure on schools was £29.8 billion. This includes £20.3 billion for individual school budgets and £1.1 billion for high needs place funding. The remaining £8.4 billion was spent on other services including behavioural support, museum and library services, top up funding and SEN support.

Despite the continuing decrease in the number of LA maintained schools, figures for expenditure on schools are 3.5% higher in cash terms than in 2021-22. 

A further £3.8 billion was spent on other education and community, 11.3% higher than 2021-22.

Expenditure on schools and other education and community, by category is available in Table 4.

Schools

High needs top up funding increased in 2022-23. This is funding over and above the core high needs place funding, which a school or college receives to enable a pupil or student with high needs to participate in education and learning, by type of school:

• Top up funding for maintained schools increased by 10.1% to £2.2 billion. 
• Top up funding for non-maintained and independent providers increased by 13.5% to £2.0 billion.
• Top up funding for academies, free school and colleges increased by 20.4% to £2.1 billion. 

Some SEN services and support categories of expenditure also saw an increase in 2022-23:

Therapies and other health related services increased by 26.7% to £78.3 million. This includes speech, physiotherapy and occupational therapies and the provision of special medical support for individual pupils which has been deemed to be special educational provision (for example, recorded under section F of an EHC plan).

•  Additional high needs targeted funding for mainstream schools and academies increased by 21.7% to £63.4 million. This is additional funding to ensure schools can support pupils with SEN, where they cannot reasonably do this out of their budget share or other mainstream funding.
• Support for inclusion, which includes collaboration between mainstream and special schools and expenditure for the integration of children between settings, increased by 12.6% to £176.7 million. This includes costs of specialist SEN support services.
• SEN support services increased by 8.8% to £537.7 million.
• Direct payments for SEN and disability increased by 7.8% to £27.8 million.  This relates to LA expenditure under the SEN (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014 to provide direct payment to the parents of children, or to young people with an EHC plan. 

Areas of expenditure which have decreased include:

• Expenditure relating to infant class sizes decreased by 22.6%, to £6.5 million. This is expenditure incurred in order to make provision for extra classes in order to comply with the School Admissions (Infant Class Sizes) (England) Regulations 2012. 
• Central support services decreased by 21.4% to £5.5 million, this includes expenditure on clothing grants, provision of tuition in music, or on other music-related activities, visual, creative and performing arts and outdoor education centres.

Other education and community

In 2022-23, LA expenditure on Other Education and Community increased for services supporting vulnerable pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities, continuing the trend seen in 2021-22. 

SEN transport expenditure accounts for 64.1% of all home to school and post 16 provision transport costs with expenditure on transport increasing across all groups:

• Expenditure on transport for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) increased by 24.4% to £1.3 billion.
• Mainstream home to school transport expenditure increased by 14.3% to £460.2 million.
• Home to post-16 provision for 16-18 year olds with SEN/ LLDD (learners with learning difficulties or disabilities) increased by 28.0% to £147.3 million.
• Home to post-16 provision for 19-25 year olds with SEN/ LLDD increased by 24.1% to £49.9 million.
• Mainstream home to post-16 transport expenditure increased by 57.1% to £36.6 million.

SEN administration, assessment and coordination and monitoring increased by 22.8% to £307.7 million while independent advice and support services (Parent Partnership), guidance and information increased by 22.2% to £29.7 million.

ii) Expenditure on children's and young people's services

In 2022-23 LA gross expenditure on children's and young people's services was £13.3 billion, with over half for services for children looked after :

• £7.0 billion (53.1%) children looked after,
• £3.3 billion (24.6%) safeguarding children and young people's services,
• £1.6 billion (12.0%) family support services,
• £526 million (4.2%) Sure Start children's centres and other spend on children under 5,
• £448 million (3.4%) services for young people, including £8.6 million on substance misuse and £2.1 million on teenage pregnancy services,
• £298 million (2.3%) youth justice,
• £129 million (1.0%) other children's and families' services.

Full details of total expenditure in all categories for the financial years 2015-16 to 2022-23 can be found in Table 5. 

Children Looked After 

Expenditure on children looked after (CLA) consistently forms the largest proportion of LA spending on children's and young people's services, accounting for 53.1% in 2022-23. 

In 2022-23 LAs spent £7.0 billion on CLA, an increase of 14.8% in cash terms from 2021-22. The number of CLA has continued to increase and expenditure has followed this pattern. Total expenditure per child (based on the population aged 0 to 17) is £549, higher than any point in recent years.

All categories of spend on CLA increased between 2021-22 and 2022-23. The largest rises were: 

• Asylum seeker services for children, increased by 38.1% to £263.4 million in 2022-23.
• Residential care, increased by 22.3% to £2.5 billion in 2022-23.
• Education of looked after children, increased by 17.0% to £74.4 million in 2022-23.

Safeguarding Children and Young People's Services

In 2022-23 £3.3 billion was spent on services for safeguarding children and young people. Of this, 89.0% was spent on social work (including LA functions in relation to child protection). This percentage has varied little in the years since 2015-16.  

Family support services 

In 2022-23 £1.6 billion was spent on family support services. This includes direct payments, short breaks (respite) for disabled children, targeted and universal family support.

Spend on short breaks for disabled children increased by 11.9%, to £253.2 million in 2022-23.

Sure Start Children's Centres & other spend on children under 5

In 2022-23 LAs spent £526.5 million on Sure Start children's centres and other spending on children under 5. This represents an increase of 4.2% from 2021-22. This reverses the trend seen in previous years, with increases in:

• Spending on individual Sure Start Children's Centres (5.0%), 
• Services delivered through Sure Start centres (24.7%),
• Spend on management costs relating to Sure Start Children's Centres (10.7%). 

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