Schools: Energy

The average annual energy costs for primary and secondary schools based on financial returns to the department from 2015 to 2024 are as follows:

To note:

• Local authority-maintained schools report costs for the 12-month period to 31 March. Academies report costs for the 12-month period to 31 August.
• These figures do not include energy costs recorded as attributable to or incurred by multi-academy trust central services.
• All spending data reported by schools to the department is publicly available at https://financial-benchmarking-and-insights-tool.education.gov.uk/data-sources.

The department does not hold a forecast for how much primary and secondary schools are projected to pay in their energy bills beyond the 2025/26 financial year. This is set out in the ‘School costs technical note’ which estimated energy price inflation for schools at a 4.1% increase for the 2024/25 financial year and a fall of 5.1% for the 2025/26 financial year.

The department is developing a suite of productivity initiatives to support schools in making efficiencies in their budgets. This includes giving schools the opportunity to join the department’s Energy for Schools initiative. When schools' energy contracts are up for renewal, they can join the department's contract. During the pilot for this project, schools saved 36% on average compared to their previous contracts.