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Guidance

Integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP)

How schools can use ICFP to create the best curriculum for pupils with available funding.

From:
Department for Education
Published:
5 September 2019
Last updated:
7 September 2026 — See all updates

Applies to England

Overview

Integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) is a data-driven planning approach that helps schools deliver the best curriculum for their pupils with the funding they have available. It can be used at any phase or type of school.

This guidance will help headteachers, school business professionals, governors, trustees and senior leaders understand how to use ICFP in their school.

ICFP involves:

  • measuring a school’s current curriculum, staffing structure and finances
  • making realistic assumptions about future income, expenditure, pupil numbers and curriculum needs
  • using the school’s data to produce a set of metrics for current and future years
  • using these metrics to inform conversations, decisions and planning

The benefits of ICFP

A school’s most valuable resource is its staff. Schools can use ICFP metrics and analysis to help them:

  • deploy teachers, leaders and teaching support staff where they will have the greatest impact on pupils
  • recognise the strong connections between future pupil numbers, staffing requirements and school finances
  • measure their own future staffing and curriculum needs, cost these, and use the information to make decisions in a timely way
  • identify where their future plans show they are an outlier with similar schools
  • ensure decisions are aligned with their school’s educational vision
  • ensure decisions are affordable and deploy staff within the available budget
  • identify where potential savings can be made if metrics show that planned curriculum and staffing costs are unaffordable
  • provide governors and trustees with the information they need to scrutinise decisions and agree strategy

If the planned curriculum is affordable, schools should still use ICFP metrics to be assured their staff are deployed in the most effective way, making every pound count for children.

ICFP is typically most effective when:

  • it is part of normal planning activity, not seen as a bolt-on
  • it involves the headteacher, governors, trustees and all senior leaders, not just school business professionals
  • leaders are knowledgeable about their school’s context (for example, pupil body, staffing, school estate) and take context into account in their decision-making
  • conversations and decisions use a range of information from various sources, not just ICFP metrics
  • leaders are able to equate decisions with cost and impact
  • schools use their ICFP data to understand staffing and curriculum needs for 3 years ahead, allowing decisions to be made in good time
  • schools use ICFP to model more than one future scenario
  • schools set regular reviews and update the plan as things change, and continue to include all leaders and governors

Read a buying for schools case study about how ICFP works for a multi-academy trust of 6 primary schools.

Begin ICFP

Most schools probably use some ICFP processes already when reviewing their curriculum or financial strategy.

If you’ve not used ICFP before:

  • ensure senior leaders, governors and trustees understand what an ICFP approach is – alongside this guidance, you can use the introductory webinars in the resources section to help with this

  • gather accurate information about your school’s current financial position and current staffing (for example, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE), job descriptions and so on)

  • get your pupil number forecasts – you’ll also need your 3-year budget forecast data, as this will tell you how much revenue you have available for curriculum staffing (this includes leadership, management and curriculum support staff)

  • choose a suitable ICFP tool for your needs – if you’re new to ICFP, you might want to start with a simple tool that considers a few key variables, such as the Department for Education’s (DfE) free basic ICFP tool or the others listed on this page, or ask your local school business networks which tools they would recommend

  • enter your school’s data into the tool and assess the outputs – if your chosen tool RAG rates ICFP outputs, use this information to guide where you could consider changes, or use a tool such as DfE’s financial benchmarking and insights tool (FBIT) to see how your school compares to similar schools

  • do not use ICFP metrics in isolation – you need to use your school’s context and ensure that your conversations involve all your finance and curriculum leaders

  • carry out this process in plenty of time before any decisions need to be made – when information changes (such as pupil number forecasts), go back to the get pupil number data forecasts step and begin the process again

Using ICFP

Using ICFP in a school

When undertaking ICFP, schools should aim to generate metrics for key costs and ratios. These typically include:

  • ratios of teachers to pupils
  • teacher contact ratios
  • per hour lesson cost (or average lesson cost)
  • leadership costs as a percentage of income
  • management costs
  • curriculum support staff costs

Support with suggested metrics is available in the resources section.

Analysis of ICFP metrics gives the number of teachers, leaders and curriculum support staff the school will be able to afford, and the number needed to deliver the planned curriculum. If these numbers are different, schools will need to:

  • change other metrics to close the gap between these numbers – this may mean adjusting class size, number of teachers or the curriculum offered
  • work openly with all relevant staff until agreement is reached – what changes will depend on the school priorities  and context
  • consider what school staff can deliver and the impact that any changes may have on workload and work-life balance – reducing school workload can help with this

The more variables that are measured, the more accurately schools will be able to predict the resources they can afford. Schools should consider what level of complexity is right for them. In practice, this might mean a school that is new to ICFP, or is a very small primary, choosing to measure and analyse fewer variables than a larger school or a school that is more experienced with an ICFP approach.

Forecasting income, expenditure and pupil numbers inevitably involves some uncertainty. Including ICFP metrics analysis within scenario planning can help schools navigate this uncertainty more effectively.

Schools may want to look at other ways they can make more of their income available for the curriculum by reducing expenditure in other areas. The maximising value for pupils programme can help schools with this process.

Using ICFP in a school trust

Even though ICFP metrics are produced at individual school level, school trusts may manage the process for their schools. Schools within a trust will find it easier to make comparisons with each other if they use the same ICFP model trust-wide.  

Using ICFP to make financial savings

Although the primary purpose of ICFP is to help proactive planning ahead, for some schools, the first time they use ICFP may be more reactive – perhaps in response to falling pupil rolls or existing budget deficits. As schools are funded on a per-pupil basis, fewer pupils in the future will mean less income, but it will also mean fewer pupils needing to be taught. These schools can still use ICFP, as it will help them identify where changes can be made, prioritise these changes, agree timescales and help ensure their plans remain affordable.

Resources

Resources for headteachers, governors and trustees

These resources are for those new to ICFP or who are not from a financial background:

These guides provide further support with ICFP and ICFP terms:

Resources for school business professionals

These free or funded resources go into further detail about ICFP and are for those with more experience and for school business professionals:

Tools

Basic free ICFP tool

If you are new to ICFP, the ICFP tool in the financial benchmarking and insights tool (FBIT) will help you to do a basic ICFP analysis. It is free to use – you just need a DfE Sign-in account. The tool is adapted for both primary and secondary schools.

Intermediate free ICFP tool

If you already have some experience of ICFP, you might like to use a more detailed tool such as the:

Some schools choose to buy an ICFP tool. Some of these tools have additional resources and training.

Some schools may find that their existing financial or staffing software package has an ICFP tool. This may come at additional cost.

Schools could ask other schools in their networks which tools they use and recommend. DfE does not endorse any particular organisation. You should follow your procurement process if you choose to buy any tools and services.

Support

The school resource management advisers (SRMA) programme. SRMAs are experts in school resource management and provide free and confidential tailored advice and support including on how to use ICFP.

Get financial advice for schools has a list of external ICFP advice providers that charge for their services. Services include recommending or supplying an ICFP tool, analysing current processes and supporting schools with an ICFP action plan.

Find a school business professional (SBP) network contains a directory of local networks. SBPs can use this link to find groups and get peer-to-peer support.

Updates to this page

Published 5 September 2019
Last updated 7 September 2026 Show all updates

  1. Reordered the guidance, added information about using ICFP in a school and a trust, and to make financial savings. Regrouped the resources by type and user. Reinstated the fundamental equations guidance and workbook for school business professionals.

  2. Added a link to the 'Buying for schools' blog.

  3. Added a link to the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. This has a free integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) tool. Added a link to the schools resource management advisor programme. Updated the 'ICFP tools' section – removed out of date resources, and updated the format of the primary and secondary school workbooks and technical guides to make them accessible.

  4. Added information about having delivered a second round of training.

  5. Added section on 'Tools for special schools and providers of alternative provision (AP)', which includes a workbook and technical guide.

  6. Updated links to Entrust school resource management webinars.

  7. Added 'training section'. Removed link to expired training resources.

  8. Added a link about free training funded by DfE for school leaders on ICFP and resource management.

  9. Restructured the page to make it easier to find tools, training and support and added links to additional guidance into the main content where relevant instead of in the resources section at the end. Added 'fundamental equations' and 'supporting workbook'.

  10. Added a link to free training on ICFP for school leaders.

  11. Added primary and secondary school ICFP templates and technical guidance and an ICFP video by The Pioneer Academy.

  12. Added The Pioneer Academy Trust’s staff deployment analysis manual and tools and a video on Outwood Grange's approach to ICFP to the resources section.

  13. First published.

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