MATpulse

The Education Market

27,238 open schools, 8.9m pupils, £68.5bn total income. Financial data: 2024/25.

Open schools
27,238
Academy trusts
2,310
Total pupils
8.9m
Sector income
£68.5bn
2024/25
Staff costs % of spend
66.2%
DfE review threshold: 78%
Sector net position
+£2.6bn
Income minus expenditure
FSM-eligible pupils
25.5%
2,265,183 pupils across 21,856 schools
Per-pupil income
£8,130
Sector average, 2024/25

Academy vs LA maintained

Schools and pupils by governance type

45.3%Academy
12,351 schools5,509,015 pupils
54.7%LA maintained
14,887 schools3,364,882 pupils
Pupil share (academy)
62.1%
45.3% of schools educate 62.1% of pupils
Avg school size
446 vs 226
Academy vs LA maintained

Schools by phase

School count, pupil numbers, and academy conversion rate by phase

PhaseSchoolsPupilsAcademy %
Primary16,7004,429,111
51.1%
Secondary3,2673,414,106
85.0%
Other4,071539,161
4.6%
Special2,363221,983
26.5%
All-through168211,370
85.7%
Nursery37635,708
0.0%
16+29322,458
27.6%

Largest academy trusts

Top 10 MATs by school count, with pupil numbers and phase mix

PrimarySecondarySpecialAll-throughOther
1
United Learning Trust
96schools70kpupils
2
Reach2 Academy Trust
65schools22kpupils
3
Delta Academies Trust
64schools33kpupils
4
St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-academy Trust
63schools22kpupils
5
Lift Schools
59schools34kpupils
6
Oasis Community Learning
55schools31kpupils
7
Harris Federation
55schools43kpupils
8
Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust
46schools14kpupils
9
The Bath and Wells Diocesan Academies Trust
46schools9kpupils
10
Ormiston Academies Trust
45schools35kpupils

Where the money goes

Sector expenditure by category — 2024/25 (21,921 schools reporting)

matpulse.co.uk
Teaching staffOtherSupport staffSupplies & servicesPremises
CategoryAmount% of spend
Teaching staff£32.8bn49.7%
Other£11.8bn18.0%
Support staff£10.8bn16.4%
Supplies & services£6.7bn10.1%
Premises£3.8bn5.8%

Schools by region

Distribution of open schools across England

matpulse.co.uk
South East
4,038
North West
3,624
London
3,193
East of England
2,856
West Midlands
2,771
South West
2,664
Yorkshire and the Humber
2,465
East Midlands
2,321
North East
1,244
0
4,038schools

Data sourced under Open Government Licence v3.0 from DfE (GIAS, FBIT), ESFA, Ofsted, and Companies House. Financial data: 2024/25. Contains public sector information. Not financial advice.