VIEWS & OPINION


Balancing the books isn’t easy - but technology can help


Comment by EMMA SLATER, Head of Education at Access Education


With almost constant headlines about the budget uncertainty facing schools across the UK, findings from The Institute for Fiscal Studies’ (IFS) latest report won’t be a surprise to many. Worryingly, costs are set to outpace funding throughout the 2025-26 academic year, leading to questions around how schools will fund the government’s proposed pay rise for teachers, the increasing number of pupils with special educational needs and a rise in operating costs, all while providing the highest possible standard of education. In a recent conversation with Steve Parkinson, Business Director at The Vale Federation, we discussed how the introduction of specialist technology has helped them to reduce inefficiencies and save valuable time across the organisation.


Seamless data sharing between departments Comprising two special needs schools, with 350 pupils and over 350 staff, The Vale Federation found itself navigating the challenges of fragmented workflows. “We needed a solution that streamlined our processes and saved us time, money, and effort”, explained Steve when talking about a recent strategic overhaul of their central services function.


Like many schools, 85% of The Vale Federation’s budget is tied to staffing costs. The introduction of a system that automatically shares staff data between the HR and finance departments has been crucial to saving time. Now, as soon as a new member of the team is recruited, the relevant payroll data automatically feeds into the finance system. This is especially beneficial for a SEN school like both at The Vale Federation, given the number of contractors and suppliers they manage.


While this may only seem like a small change, in reality it saved countless hours over the course of the academic year. In addition, following the introduction of the Access Budgets software, Steve and his team can quickly run different financial scenarios. This is hugely beneficial given how difficult it is to balance the books in today’s economic climate, “You can overlay different pay scales or staffing models without committing to a change. That’s crucial for us because in education, staffing costs can vary widely based on the experience level of teachers. We need to know what impact those variables will have on our budget immediately.” Steve recalls a time when the federation advertised for new teaching positions, aiming to hire staff on the lower pay scale, but only received applications from more senior, higher- paid teachers. With the right technology in place, the hiring team was able to quickly run different financial scenarios to assess the impact and whether or not there was any flexibility in the budget.


“We needed to see the budgetary effect of hiring teachers on the upper pay scale instead of the main pay scale, and we could do it instantly. We simply overlaid the new figures onto our current scenario and saw the financial impact straight away. It meant we could react quickly and make an informed


March 2025 decision without delay.”


Additionally, the new technology has streamlined the entire financial approvals processes. Previously, it relied on a manual system for approving requisitions and purchase orders, which was inefficient and time-consuming. Now, this is all done online, with the finance team able to verify a purchase order in just a click, safe in the knowledge that the entire process is accurately tracked and logged.


Streamlining recruitment


Anyone involved in recruitment will appreciate the time spent reviewing applications and managing interviews, especially if this process is still paper-based.


Teams often spend hours re-entering data into the system, time that could be much better spent on strategic or value- add activity. Transitioning to an online system has allowed candidates to input their details digitally, with all of the relevant information then automatically visible to the HR team and those involved in the hiring process.


Bringing self-service to HR


It’s not just the financial services team that has benefitted, the Federation’s HR processes have also become more streamlined with staff able to log into their own portal to request leave, submit overtime or check their payslips.


The fact this can be done with such ease from a mobile phone, is another huge benefit for staff, while HR teams no longer get dragged into chasing paper trails or responding to the most basic of requests.


Expanding without increasing headcount None of the above challenges are unique to The Vale Federation, however the introduction of a fully integrated solution has proven vital in helping it to overcome many of the hurdles schools across the UK are currently facing. By connecting every corner of the central services, The Vale Federation has been able to increase both student and staff numbers, without increasing headcount.


“We’ve seen the greatest growth in staff numbers over the past four years, but we haven’t had to add a single person to our HR or finance teams”, explained Steve. This efficiency gives the organisation the flexibility to continue expanding without the usual concerns of adding administrative pressure - a core concern for time-poor teams.


“We’re confident that with Access, we can take on more staff, more students, and even more contractors without worrying about needing extra admin support. The software grows with us.”


Steve’s advice to other schools looking to make efficiency savings across central services is to find a solution designed specifically for business operations, rather than educational management systems that only touch finance or HR, owing to the complex nature of good school management.


www.education-today.co.uk 29


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48