{"id":243005,"date":"2026-03-09T17:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=243005"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:28:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:28:43","slug":"academy-trust-to-make-big-cuts-after-falling-500k-into-the-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/academy-trust-to-make-big-cuts-after-falling-500k-into-the-red\/","title":{"rendered":"Academy trust to make big cuts after falling \u00a3500k into the red"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A prominent academy trust that issued six of its central team with Teslas will make huge cuts after plunging almost \u00a3500,000 into the red. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aspirations Academies Trust plans to make more than \u00a33 million of savings by \u201cremodelling\u201d its curriculum and staffing, reducing central support and \u201creshaping senior leadership structures\u201d after racking up seven-figure losses last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chain of 16 schools in west London, Oxfordshire and Dorset blamed unfunded pay awards and falling rolls for the downturn, as well as \u201cunfavourable government policies\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Unfavourable government policies’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson said it was in regular contact with the Department for Education and had \u201ca clear plan to rebuild reserves\u201d, adding: \u201cOur priority remains providing an exceptional education for every pupil, and we are confident in the steps being taken to secure the trust\u2019s long-term stability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accounts show Aspirations<\/a> ended the last financial year \u00a3486,000 in the red, having been just over \u00a31 million in surplus 12 months earlier. Its policy is to have \u00a33.1 million, equating to 4 per cent of income, in savings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board acknowledged \u201ca material uncertainty exists, which may cast doubt on the trust’s ability to continue as a going concern\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its accounts, the trust attributed the issues to \u201cunfavourable government policies\u201d, inflation and increased pressures from external alternative and special needs provisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the spokesperson stated the \u201csmall deficit\u201d was mainly due to unfunded pay awards and falling pupil numbers in some schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are challenges facing trusts up and down the country. The accounts also reflect the write-off of some historic bad debts,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions in savings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe continue to have strong cashflow and a healthy cash balance and are not seeking financial support from the department.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a bid to address the problem, the trust is planning \u201ccurriculum and staffing remodelling\u201d, which is expects to save it \u00a31.4 million over the next two years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will reduce central support costs \u201cthrough restructuring, role consolidation and efficiency reviews\u201d to generate \u00a3200,000 in the first year, rising to \u00a3600,000.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plans also include \u201creshaping senior leadership structures\u201d. This will involve implementing \u201cbenchmarked salary ranges, limits on senior posts, and alignment of school leadership structures to the trust model\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It expects these changes to generate \u00a31.5 million of savings over two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools Week<\/em>\u00a0previously revealed<\/a> that Aspirations had paid about \u00a390,000 over three years to provide leased Tesla company cars to six of its central team.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sector\u2019s money fears<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The spokesperson did not respond when asked if the trust would continue to provide the cars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research by the Kreston group, a network of accountancy firms, found that all types of trust except medium-sized MATs are forecasting that reserves will fall by up to 43 per cent over the next two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Confederation of School Trusts\u2019 annual survey revealed many chief executives were looking at leadership redundancies and cutting classroom staff to balance the books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accounts also show Aspirations chief executive Steve Kenning\u2019s pay rose to between \u00a3275,000 and \u00a3280,000 in 2024-25. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His salary was the 10th highest in England, according to our chief executive pay audit last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paula Kenning, his wife and deputy, earned \u00a3225,000 to \u00a3230,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MAT plans curriculum and staffing ‘remodelling’ and reductions to central support as it eyes savings over \u00a33m <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311204,"featured_media":242909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32],"post-theme":[2381],"class_list":["post-243005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-academies","post-theme-academies"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t