45 of Buckinghamshire's 137 council-run schools expect a deficit this year, up from 30 two years ago. Their reserves are forecast to fall from £15.4m to £6.2m.
One in three council-run schools in Buckinghamshire expects to finish this financial year in deficit. That is 45 of the county’s 137 maintained schools, up from 38 last year and 30 the year before.
The figures are in a report to the county’s Schools Forum, which meets on Tuesday 3 November (Buckinghamshire Council, Schools Balances and Deficits 2026-27). The report does not name the schools.
The money in the bank is running down
Maintained schools held £15.4 million in reserves at 31 March 2026. That was £3.16 million less than a year earlier. On the budgets the schools have submitted, the total falls by a further £9.16 million, to £6.24 million, by March 2027.
Primary schools account for most of the fall:
| Type | Schools | Reserves, March 2026 | Forecast, March 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 121 | £7.52m | £1.91m |
| Special | 8 | £5.55m | £3.19m |
| Secondary | 4 | £1.86m | £0.95m |
| Nursery | 2 | £0.40m | £0.48m |
| Pupil referral units | 2 | £0.07m | minus £0.30m |
Both pupil referral units expect a deficit. So do 34% of primary schools and a quarter of the maintained secondaries.
How deep the deficits go
The deficits are getting bigger, not just more common. 21 schools forecast a deficit of between £100,000 and £250,000, against 13 last year and seven the year before. Four more forecast between £250,000 and £500,000. None is above £500,000.
Of the 45:
- 11 had a surplus at the end of March 2026
- a further 10 slipped into deficit during 2025-26
- 20 have sent in recovery plans that clear the deficit within three years or show it shrinking
Every school in deficit, or forecasting one, has to produce a recovery plan. The council’s schools finance team says it is still working with those that have not produced a robust one. Eight of the schools in deficit are classed by the council’s school improvement team as Intervention Schools, at higher risk of things getting worse.
Why it is happening
The report names two main causes, given by the schools themselves:
- falling pupil numbers, which bring less funding
- delays in EHC plan assessments, which leave schools supporting pupils with special needs before any extra funding arrives
That second point links to the county’s wider SEND finances. The high needs budget carries its own deficit, forecast at £73.3 million by March 2027, as our story on the county’s SEND plan sets out.
There is one piece of better news the forecasts leave out. In July the Government announced a grant covering 1.7 percentage points of this year’s 3.5% teacher pay award. Schools had been told to budget for 3%. Council-run schools in Buckinghamshire will get £1.85 million from it, which the council says will improve the position.
Why the council is watching
A school’s deficit is normally the school’s problem. It becomes the council’s when a school in deficit is turned into an academy by a directed academy order: the council then has to pay off the deficit from its own budget.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 removed mandatory academy orders for failing schools, so that risk has fallen. But the report warns that if reserves keep shrinking, they “could be exhausted, and future deficits may become a cost to the Council’s general fund”.
What it means for you
- If your child is at a council-run school, a deficit does not mean the school is closing. It means it is spending more than it receives and must follow a recovery plan to bring the budget back into balance.
- If you are a governor, the council is running training for governors and heads at schools under financial pressure, plus DfE-funded sessions on curriculum and financial planning.
- Academies are not in these figures. The report covers council-maintained schools only, which include just four secondary schools.
The Schools Forum meets at 1.30pm on Tuesday 3 November; its papers are on the council’s committee site. Term and holiday dates are on our school term dates page.
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