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Curriculum-led budget planning: 5 key questions to get started

Balancing the budget while keeping a focus on a broad, balanced curriculum is an ongoing challenge and being asked to do more with less is a recurring theme.

With concerns over the financial health of the academies sector, effective, long-term planning is more crucial than ever.

If you want to improve financial efficiency, maximise your resource and deliver a broad, balanced curriculum, then curriculum-led budget planning could be the best approach for you. To help you understand more about curriculum-based financial planning we’ve put together a quick guide that shows you how to adopt the approach for your academy.

Here are the 5 key questions you need to ask to get started:

Posted 31/01/2019

Question 1: What is the breadth of the curriculum and is a broad curriculum affordable?

Balancing a curriculum which meets the needs of students, is viable in the short-term and sustainable for the future, is crucial. Taking time to consider the long-term affordability as well as assess the short-term costs will pay dividends further down the line.

Using planning and budgeting tools such as Access Education Curriculum and Access Education Budgets can make it easier, and quicker, to plan your preferred curriculum and consider its financial viability. It’s also a good idea to review how you deliver it as you could identify different ways of working which will allow you to afford your preferred curriculum.

Question 2: How is the curriculum delivered?

Before considering drastic changes to support the delivery of the curriculum, it’s worthwhile reviewing your existing resource. Often there is plenty of potential sitting in your current staffing structure. Part-time staff and flexible working options also present an opportunity to do things differently.

Question 3: How much time is allocated to planning, preparation and assessment (PPA)?

Not all PPA strategies have cost implications and making better use of time and resources can free up a surprisingly large amount of time. Considering your PPA strategy from a short and medium-term perspective alongside alternatives can help you identify a more efficient and effective approach.

Question 4: What are the management costs?

Reviewing your management structure in tandem with curriculum planning is a useful exercise to make sure both support improved efficiencies. At its most basic, the broader the curriculum, the more heads of department you’ll need. This means additional teaching responsibility allowances to build into your management structure, plus free periods for planning. Be sure to consider time as well as financial costs.

Question 5: What are the class and set sizes?

While smaller class sizes can drive up performance, it can be helpful to consider other scenarios which might better support outcomes, accessibility and efficiency. A resource-based planning tool such as Access Education Curriculum can help you to easily model and assess the alternatives.

 

For further detail and more practical tips, download our quick guide: Curriculum-based financial planning. You can also read about one school’s experience of curriculum-led budget planning and its impact on their finances and pupil outcomes.