Integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP): checklist and guidance

Find out more about integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP), which can help you improve your school's financial efficiency and maximise resources. Use our checklist to walk you through the process.

Last reviewed on 10 December 2021
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 35495
Contents
  1. What is it?
  2. Why should we use it?
  3. Where do we start?
  4. 5 steps to success
  5. Download our checklist to guide you through the process
  6. Free resources for primary schools
  7. Free resources for secondary schools
  8. All schools: find further support with ICFP

What is it?

Integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) is a management process that helps you plan the best curriculum for your pupils with the funding you have available.

Any school phase or type can use it. 

It involves: 

  1. Measuring your current curriculum, staffing structure and finances
  2. Using the data to create a 3 to 5-year plan 

Why should we use it?

Linking your curriculum and financial planning can help you deliver a curriculum that’s: 

  • Financially sustainable 
  • The best your school can afford 
  • Tailored to your pupils’ needs 
  • Educationally successful 

Where do we start?

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to ICFP, but it should include analysing your:

  • Teacher deployment 
  • Use of support staff 
  • Non-staffing costs 
  • Balance of income and costs 

Use the DfE’s 7-step guide to ICFP to help you get started, and see the ‘getting started with ICFP’ section here.

Measure as many variables as you can, to help you make more accurate predictions