Written by Katie Hall, EYFS practitioner and director at Springboard.
Newly collected Freedom of Information (FOI) requests analysed by Springboard have unveiled how Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) across the UK are allocating their financial budgets when it comes to three cornerstone areas of classroom learning: Arts, Stationery and Physical Education (PE).
Covering 309 primary schools and representing almost 139,000 UK pupils, the findings reveal not just the money being spent on school equipment, but on the priorities of the education system.
Key Findings from the FOI Data
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Stationery reigns supreme: Almost every trust prioritised spending on stationery across both academic years (2022/23 and 2023/24), indicating how much of a non-negotiable status it has in daily school operations.
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Allocation of Arts budgets can vary wildly: Some trusts analysed, like Lift Trust, spent more than £325,000 on arts in 2022/23, before dropping it to just £213,000 the next year. Overall, arts funding dropped by over 27%, from £1.22 million to £897,000, with per-pupil investment declining 36%—from £12.84 to £8.15.
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PE funding lags behind: PE/sports equipment consistently reported the lowest spend across the three categories. In some trusts, including The Lift Trust, Step Academy Trust, and The White Horse Federation, spending per pupil on PE dropped to under £1 per year.
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Larger trusts save more: Economies of scale are benefitting the bigger trusts analysed in the study. With centralised procurement, they achieve better value per pound, raising the question of how smaller institutions can keep up.
For example:
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A trust with ~33,000 pupils shows a per-pupil spend closer to £42–£44, compared to smaller trusts with fewer than 5,000 pupils often spending £60–£100 per pupil.
The Case for The Arts
Arts funding is often one of the first areas to be trimmed when budgets are tightened, yet it’s also one of the most vital for emotional expression, creativity and mental health. Despite the increasing seriousness of learning, it’s essential to preserve a playful element as long as possible.
The FOI data shows that while some trusts analysed continue to invest in arts-based resources, others deprioritise them. This inconsistency reflects not just a funding issue, but a values issue, and begs one to ponder whether we are still treating creativity as a classroom essential, or as a luxury?
Undervaluing Physical Education in UK Schools
Analysis of the spending across the trusts looked at highlights a worrying reality, that PE receives the least investment across both years.
This risks embedding inactivity into a generation, as without the access to basic equipment, schools miss the chance to teach children how to enjoy being active. More than just a health issue, physical activity with peers also works to build resilience, confidence and social skill, essential traits needed for later in life. When budgets fail to prioritise movement, children can miss out on learning that simply cannot be replicated with textbooks.
Equitable Access in a Budget-Driven Landscape
The data raises important questions around the topic of equality. Per-pupil spending across trusts for these three areas varies dramatically, from as little as £41 per year, to over £100. If a child’s access to enriching resources is being dictated by the postcode in which they live, it’s difficult not to question whether every child is being given the same opportunities at school.
There’s clearly a pressing need for more investment in certain areas, in order to guarantee that every child, especially those from underprivileged areas, can access high-quality educational resources.
Whether it’s paints, pencils, or PE kits, every resource tells a story about what we value within a child’s education. If we’re only investing in what’s easily measured, we risk losing what matters most. Schools need budgets that help to reflect not just academic goals, but holistic child development, and that means giving equal weight to creative expression and wellbeing.
Methodology
FOI requests were issued to 38 Multi-Academy Trusts across the UK. Eight Trusts refused the request due to accounting software not being able to segment expenditure by subject, 13 replied while 17 Trusts responded late to the request.
Data reflects reported Trust-level spending for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, across 13 Multi-Academy Trusts, covering 309 primary schools and nearly 139,000 pupils.