To assist members with budget-setting, we commissioned a group of our most experienced expert practitioners, many of whom are accredited school resource management advisers (SRMAs)*, to develop a set of budget assumptions using the most current intelligence.
This latest version of the guidance was updated in April 2025.
We hope you find this guidance helpful, and as ever, we are always interested to hear alternative perspectives.
Click here to view and download the document.
Podcast
Assumptions are, by their very nature, based on the best currently available intelligence, but they are also subject to interpretation and contextual nuances. You can listen to a podcast between Stephen Morales, ISBL’s CEO, and Simon Oxenham, COO at Woodard Academies Trust, where they discuss assumptions.
*To read more about SRMAs, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-school-resource-management-advisers-srma-programme/the-school-resource-management-advisers-srma-programme