Academy chain of four primaries, which proposed classroom job cuts, spent more than £1 million on central services

Accounts show its central spend near quadrupling in 2024-25 – while a teacher source said they were told there was no money to spend on exercise books or paint for pupils.

A four-school academy chain has been shedding classroom staff while spending more than a quarter of its core income from government on central services including its senior management team, Education Uncovered can reveal.

The Church of England-controlled Inspire Academy Movement Trust, based near Sevenoaks in Kent, spent £1.3 million on its central services in 2024-25, its latest accounts disclose. This was 27 per cent of the trust’s core General Annual Grant (GAG) income from the Department for Education, which stood at £4.9 million that year.

Last academic year, the trust, which runs four primary schools, had been proposing to make five school-level staff redundant, arguing that falling pupil rolls necessitated this. However, since then staff numbers have been reduced by resignations. But one concerned source pointed out that the central spending, which increased nearly four-fold in 2024-25 and appears to be considerably higher than similarly-sized academy trusts, remains elevated while classroom resources were squeezed.

This teacher source said they were told last year that there was not enough money for paint for their pupils to use, and not to order any new exercise books but to rip out pages from pupils’ existing books for them to share. The trust has been approached for comment about its central spend.