Marvin OnumonuValue for pupils comes from keeping staff in classrooms, not cutting them, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
This comes after the Government launched a programme to help schools and trusts save millions over the Parliament by tackling avoidable costs and high mark-ups on agency staff.
From next year, schools are expected to use a new supply deal capping rates charged by agencies to help avoid excessive spending.
Schools will be given updated digital tools to check interest rates and benchmark costs, making it easier to make informed decisions.
The programme also aims to help schools make better use of their financial and physical assets, including the £6bn held in reserves, unlocking more funds for technology and improving children’s experiences.
Schools Minister Georgia Gould, said: “From day one, this government has worked in partnership with schools to break the link between children’s background and their opportunities in life.
“This programme will lift some of the pressures that have built up on schools in recent years and builds on major steps we have taken outside the classroom, like scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
“I know just how hard schools and trusts are already working to seize opportunities to maximise value from their budgets.”
Gould added: “We want to share that best practice and support them to go even further – with government action to tackle the national drivers of costs, alongside local action from schools and trusts, so every penny is invested in children to achieve and thrive.”
The Maximising Value for Pupils programme will see the Government, schools and trusts work together to use collective buying power for better deals.
Schools and trusts will be encouraged to use the new programme from the start of the new year.
Despite difficult choices on public spending, funding for schools rose this year and will rise again next year, with a £1.7bn increase in 2026-27.
The Government said every child will get the chance to succeed, with a revitalised curriculum, free breakfast clubs, and expanded free school meal offers.
Neil Carberry, CEO of the REC, said: “Most teachers are permanent, full-time staff. But many choose part-time or agency work for good reasons, such as caring for children or elderly parents.
“When illness or absence occurs, supply and agency teachers step in to keep learning on track.
“That matters because value for pupils does not come from cutting staff in classrooms.”
Carberry added: “Agencies are up early every morning making sure kids have a qualified teacher at the front of the class – a quality of service for schools that banks have never supplied.
“Agencies have been trusted partners for years. Working with providers is the best way for the Department for Education to keep schools staffed and deliver value for money.
“Caps can play a role, but only if they are reviewed regularly and delivered in partnership, not imposed and left unchanged for years as we have seen in the healthcare crisis that has been driven by the NHS’s failure to plan for workforce needs.”
He said: “Agencies are ready to work with the government to deliver great value – that’s what we are specialists in.”
