Most trusts know the curriculum they want pupils to experience. The harder question is whether staff and budget can sustain it this year and in the years ahead. That is the role of Integrated Curriculum and Financial Planning: aligning curriculum intent, staff deployment and affordability so leaders can make decisions with confidence.
Those trusts who embed ICFP at the heart of their planning process consistently tell us it is transformative. They use it to test ideas, explore trade-offs and understand the implications of different approaches before committing to change. The planning conversation is no longer just about ratios. It is about whether the curriculum being delivered is the right one for pupils, and whether the staffing model supporting it is sustainable.
ICFP is not about achieving the ‘right’ ratio. It is about aligning the curriculum that pupils need with the staff and budget required to deliver it sustainably.
IMP ICFP is built for that kind of planning. The model fits the school. The school does not need to fit the model. It provides clarity across three connected questions:
What curriculum do we want to deliver?
What staffing is required to deliver it well?
Is this affordable now and in the future?
This term, we have introduced developments that strengthen that alignment. They make ICFP more reflective of how schools operate and more useful throughout the year, not only during planning cycles.
Trust leaders need a clear line of sight between curriculum decisions, staff deployment and long-term affordability.
A clearer view of staff time
Teachers and support staff work to different time expectations. Now that difference is represented directly in the model. Teachers can be planned against directed time or the timetable cycle, and support staff can be planned against full contracted hours.
Curriculum and pupil structures that reflect real provision
Curriculum and provision look different across phases and contexts. Mixed year groups. Intervention work. SEN support. Specialist resource bases. These are not exceptions. They are part of the way schools operate.
The model now reflects this more clearly. Primary schools can link TA and SEN support directly to the pupil groups receiving it. Mixed year group numbers can be modelled confidently while still tying back to the pupil numbers held in IMP Planner. Specialist provision can be included as part of the core model. Secondary schools can model teaching demand at core, options, and sixth form level, while choosing whether to allocate staff time by department or by the same core/options/sixth form structure.
This allows trusts to see how provision is being resourced and what it costs to continue delivering it in the future.
Scenario planning for thoughtful decision making
Strategic planning involves exploration. Leaders look at different curriculum structures, staffing patterns or class sizes and weigh the implications for pupil experience and cost.
IMP ICFP now supports that directly. Multiple scenarios can be created and compared, each representing a different approach. This allows leaders to test ideas before decisions are made. It also creates a clearer evidence base for board and school-level conversations about priority and direction.
ICFP that supports leadership throughout the year
ICFP is most valuable when it is live. It should inform decisions throughout the year, not only during planning cycles.
Staffing and curriculum needs shift during the year. People join. People leave. Roles change.
ICFP can now be reviewed in-year using point-in-time snapshots. Leaders can check whether the current staffing structure provides the curriculum coverage required at that moment, without needing workarounds or recalculation.
This makes ICFP a live planning process. It supports operational leadership as well as long-term strategy.
Financial insight that strengthens ICFP
Effective ICFP depends on a clear picture of financial performance. IMP has partnered with ISBL to help trusts build that clarity.
The partnership combines sector data from more than 6,000 schools with independent ASOT expertise so leaders can judge performance against credible, sector-recognised standards. As the work progresses, ASOT metrics and thresholds will feed directly into IMP reporting to give trusts a more consistent basis for decision making.
Read more about what this means for your Trust and how it can support your planning.
A planning model that reflects the school, not a template
ICFP gives leaders confidence in curriculum, staffing, and sustainability choices and brings everyone onto the same page so the whole organisation pulls in one direction. These developments strengthen the core purpose of IMP ICFP. The planning model reflects how schools actually work. It supports thoughtful decision making and provides a grounded basis for conversations across the Trust.
If your Trust is developing its approach to ICFP this year, your Customer Success Manager can share how other trusts are using these developments to support curriculum planning, staff deployment and long-term sustainability.
If you’re not currently using IMP ICFP find out more on our upcoming webinar – 18th December at 10am
