This morning (9 March), academies across the country will have received their funding letters from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), notifying them of funding cuts to their budget allocation for the next academic year (1 September 2018 to 31 August 2019). 

There are numerous examples of schools which, having set their deficit budgets for several years, are using their reserves to balance their current financial position. Where this is the case, some schools are now running out of reserves, leaving them with the need to do something different to bridge the gap. 

 

So, what are their options?