Soaring petrol prices to have ‘huge consequences for teachers and schools’

The closing of the Strait of Hormuz — through which approximately 25% of the world’s oil travels — by Iran in response to the ongoing war with the US and Israel has led to a rise in fuel costs

Teachers should get key worker fuel cards if petrol runs short or soars in price, the leader of an academy trust says.

Tom Campbell, chief executive of E-ACT, which has 38 schools and 3,500 staff, also warned the cost of providing free school meals could rise sharply and described the situation as the single biggest external risk to school budgets in England, which could exacerbate the chance of teacher strikes over pay.

But yesterday he called on the government to give special priority to teachers during the war in the Middle East. Mr Campbell added: “If you run a school or a trust, that matters and it matters across more budget lines than you might think. If your energy contract was locked in during 2024 or early 2025, you are protected for now. Wholesale prices were falling then and many schools and trusts secured reasonable rates. If yours is due for renewal in the coming months, the market has transformed.

“Gas is nearly double what it was in February, with electricity following closely behind. For a large multi-academy trust running 30-plus schools, energy costs can easily run to £3 million to £5 million a year.”

Mr Campbell, who worked at schools including as headteacher for 20 years, said a 30 per cent increase could add £2 million to the annual bill — roughly the equivalent of 50 teaching posts — and warned that the Department for Education’s projection of a 1.9 per cent rise in non-salary costs over the next two years was no longer realistic.

Last week, the National Education Union agreed to move ahead with a formal ballot on industrial action over pay, arguing that the proposed 6.5 per cent rise over three years is not fully funded by the government and would partly have to be covered by school budgets. Union leaders are set to meet to discuss the timing of the vote, which could pave the way for strike action.

Writing for TES, Campbell said: “Before the Iran conflict, there were genuine grounds for optimism around the direction of teacher pay. The crisis has changed the arithmetic.

“If inflation reaches 3.5 per cent by September, anything below that represents a real-terms pay cut. The spectre of the 2023 strikes is back in the room.”

He added that headteachers should model staffing costs against different inflation scenarios and prepare for the impact of rising fuel bills, warning: “It will be crippling.”