Falling pupil numbers are only one part of a much wider ongoing challenge for primary schools. Schools are experiencing rising numbers of pupils with special educational needs, alongside increasing demand for mental health and wellbeing support across classrooms. Budgets are being stretched, whilst expectations and needs continue to grow.
Together, these pressures are forcing leaders to look closely at how staff time, support, and resources are allocated. The question is no longer just how to save money, but how to sustain quality and meet need within tighter financial limits.
The challenge is not only financial. It is about protecting quality while planning sustainably. To do that, leaders need visibility across curriculum, staffing, and finance. They need to understand where the pressure points are, what options exist, and how each decision shapes the future.
ICFP can bring these insights together. By combining curriculum and finance data in one system, leaders have the clarity needed to make confident, long-term decisions.
Planning for Evolving Landscapes
Class structures that once worked can quickly become unaffordable, and schools often find themselves reacting when it is already too late to adjust. ICFP helps schools to model different staffing structures and merged class options early, allowing them to be proactive with recruitment, and not replacing like-for-like where not required in the future. By reviewing future years, leaders can explore the financial implications of each scenario and identify sustainable staffing models that protect both budgets and quality.
Understanding Teaching Structures and Costs
Teaching delivery can vary across classes. Some lessons are led by class teachers, others by HLTA’s, or external specialists such as PE or Forest School providers. Each brings different costs and outcomes.
ICFP helps leaders to see who is in front of pupils, how that time is structured, and what it means for both learning and affordability. This clarity supports evidence-based discussions about curriculum design, workload, and pupil outcomes.
Analysing Leadership and Non-Contact Time
Leadership and PPA time are essential but often recorded in broad categories that make it hard to see how capacity is used. With ICFP, schools can break this time down into meaningful categories such as time spent on attendance, mentoring, or policy management. By understanding where time and costs are concentrated, schools can align leadership effort with school and Trust priorities.
Comparing leadership and staffing structures with similar schools can also highlight whether responsibilities and costs are proportionate, and where efficiencies can create any additional areas of capacity.
Analysing Support Staff Time to Meet Growing SEN and Pastoral Needs
A key area where primary schools are seeing significant benefits from reviewing ICFP is in understanding how educational support staff time is used. With growing levels of SEN need in primary settings, ICFP enables schools to analyse how much time is required to meet statutory and EHCP-linked provision versus broader classroom or intervention support. This gives leaders a clearer view of how much staff time is effectively non-negotiable, helping them assess whether sufficient capacity has been allocated to meet pupil needs.
By separating SEN-related support from core Teaching Assistant deployment, schools can gain a more accurate picture of how much flexible support time remains for wider classroom delivery. This clarity also improves benchmarking by allowing schools to compare core TA deployment between schools without the data being skewed by differing SEN profiles.
Extending this analysis to include business support and wider operational roles further strengthens workforce planning. Visualising how all staff time is allocated supports evidence-based staffing and recruitment decisions, and ensures resources are aligned to deliver the best outcomes for pupils.
Turning ICFP Insights into Action
ICFP is not about spreadsheets or static reports. It is about creating a shared understanding of how curriculum, staffing, and finance connect, so that everyone involved in planning sees the same picture. It gives leaders the insight to plan ahead, shape sustainable structures, and make confident, evidence-based decisions that protect both quality and stability.
Because IMP ICFP connects directly to budget and staffing data within IMP Planner, schools can test scenarios based on accurate, real-time information.
Our work with schools has shown that when leaders have the visibility they need, they can move from reacting to planning and make decisions that keep pupils at the centre.
See how ICFP helps your school plan with confidence.
