England's schools still feeling budget crunch, analysis finds

State school budgets in England have deteriorated in the last year, according to analysis by a thinktank that says councils could redistribute surpluses to bail out struggling schools in the same region.The Education Policy Institute looked at the accounts submitted by maintained and academy schools for 2017-18 and found that secondary schools were particularly hard hit.According to the EPI, half of all secondary academies and 60% of maintained secondary schools – those managed by local authorities – are spending more than they are receiving, forcing them to dip into their reserves.“No doubt the Department for Education will bury its head in the sand again and trot out all of the usual smokescreens regarding efficiencies and surpluses, yet on the ground headteachers continue to cut staffing, their curricular offer and crucial pastoral services in order to make ends meet.”