The economic situation currently affecting the UK and the wider world is taking its toll on schools, presenting governors with a host of tricky – and sometimes unforeseen – challenges. We want to help.

Counting the Cost is designed to help empower current governors with the knowledge needed to support schools during this challenging time. Do you feel confident in speaking about the current crisis? Do you know what questions to ask school leaders or how you can help in your governance role? If not, Counting the Cost can help.

What to expect

Throughout May 2023, we released a steady stream of content designed to improve knowledge and confidence surrounding governance and the cost of living crisis.  The campaign showcases the range of research, initiatives, and organisations working to improve young people’s educational outcomes and overall prospects. As well as releasing weekly podcasts throughout the campaign, we published video content and articles on our website, with each week covering a different topic.

Our first week introduced the campaign and delivered informative content about estate management and those all-important energy bills. The second week focused on the cost of the school day and how parents and carers may struggle to cope. In the third week, we looked at the cost of pupil development and educational experiences, moving on to staff-related costs in Week four.

Campaign materials

Access free articles, podcasts, videos, and more on our resources page or discover more about organisations who provide support and information for schools on our organisations page.

Campaign resources Useful organisations

Listen to our campaign podcasts!

Join Governors for Schools and guests as we consider key issues relating to the cost of living crisis on the newly launched Governors for Schools Podcast.

Listen on Zencastr Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple

How to get involved

We encourage governors to review our campaign page resources, listen to our podcast, and watch our short information videos. We also encourage you to spread the benefits of governance with your peers and networks. This campaign page will remain active once the campaign is over, enriching our current resource provisions and providing a hub of information. Check back whenever you need this information.

Finally, sharing the campaign on your social media channels is a great (and easy!) way to show your support. Share our content using the hashtag #CountingTheCost to help more people discover our important work.

Any questions? Please get in touch and we would be happy to assist.

With thanks to our sponsor

We’d like to extend our gratitude to Allen & Overy, whose generous support has helped us produce all materials for Counting the Cost.