Why the project was needed

At Impetus, we find, fund and build organisations to deliver high-impact, evidence-based programmes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Around half of our partner organisations rely on schools to recognise the need for interventions and buy their education programmes.

But the school funding landscape has faced difficulty in recent years, shaped by Covid-19 catch-up investments and subsequent funding cuts. At the same time, schools have been navigating challenges like rising absenteeism, budget pressures and staff recruitment. Against this background, as an impact-funder, we needed to ask: How are schools making spending decisions? What’s influencing them? And how can we best support our organisations to respond?

We lacked the in-house capacity to carry out this kind of research, so we brought in expert support from PwC.

What the project involved

PwC brought a relatively large team for a pro bono project of this size. The team was led by Senior Associate Faisal Khan and supported by a high-energy team, including two junior associates and an Education Lead who brought sector experience. This support ensured strong momentum, clear pacing, and accountability throughout the project.

The project was approached in two phases – firstly pulling together a quantitative overview of the school funding landscape in England and then a qualitative deep-dive, surveying c.2,000 school leaders and interviewing industry experts to understand how decisions are made in practice.

Impact of the project

Impetus was able to gain insights from this research project which we would not have been able to gain ourselves. For instance, we initially assumed tutoring might be losing relevance in the education landscape, post-Covid. But we found schools still valued it hugely – they just felt they could deliver it themselves, without the help of external organisations. This helped us reframe how we advised our tutoring partners, allowing us to offer more relevant guidance that would support the implementation of their programmes into schools.

For Faisal, the collaborative nature of the project stood out. PwC and Impetus co-created and adapted during each stage of the project, navigating through challenges together. The interviews with sector leaders were a great opportunity to get under the skin of buying decisions and learn from key decision makers. The nature of the pro bono work gave the PwC team more breathing space compared with their typical projects, providing the team with more time to get up to speed and to step-up in terms of responsibilities; a rewarding experience for all involved.