The academy chains sitting on £1 billion of reserves

Some 63 academy trusts collectively held £1 billion in 2023-24, DfE data shows, with the 10 with the highest levels of reserves sitting on a third of a billion between them.

 

Some 63 academy trusts are collectively sitting on £1 billion of reserves, new analysis by Education Uncovered has revealed.

Between them these organisations had 15 per cent of their income for a year kept in bank accounts or investments – or more than one pound for every seven. Collectively, the amount these trusts held in reserve added up to more than half of the reserves of all of England’s non-academy schools put together, despite the trusts’ collective income being only just over a quarter of that seen in the non-academy sector.

And the 10 trusts with the highest amounts kept in bank accounts or investments have a third of a billion pounds held in reserve between them, with one relatively small chain having a cash pile which as of 2023-24 was sitting at 90 per cent of its annual income.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: "Parents and staff will be shocked to learn that such large sums are being held by the organisations that manage their schools."

The news comes with the DfE raising questions about schools keeping large amounts in reserve, stating in its submission to the School Teachers’ Review Body: “There is significant potential in under-utilised assets across the school sector, including sizeable financial reserves…

“Opportunities include…in particular, making use of the substantial reserves in our system.” I have written a separate story about the overall level of reserves in England’s academy and local authority school systems here.