The vast majority of English state schools expect to be in the red by the next school year, pushed by huge energy bills and an unfunded pay rise for teachers. Thousands of schools are now planning to lay off teachers and teaching assistants or reduce their hours. But unions and headteachers say that with schools forced to increase class sizes, the choice of subjects in secondary schools will suffer as headteachers reject subjects that are less popular and less expensive to teach. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Subjects that we have always seen as culturally really important will increasingly become the property of private schools because state schools cannot afford to teach them.” He told the Observer that subjects that attract fewer students at GCSE and A-level, including drama, art, German and French, will all be at risk of the ax because “one teacher to 20 children will no longer be viable”. . . Issues such as design technology, which is expensive because schools must buy materials and classes cannot be large for safety reasons, would also be at risk, he said. He warned that valuable subjects would quietly disappear. “Heads don’t want to put parents off by admitting they are cutting German GCSEs because they can’t afford it. But it happens.” Will Teece, headteacher at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, a secondary academy in Leicester, said: “We are certainly looking at our post-16 options and which subjects with small groups and high staff costs should we lose.” He said: “You need to get someone in front of the students so class sizes can increase. I don’t know how the schools will manage if the rooms are not big enough.” Subjects in which schools must purchase materials are also at risk. Photo: Avril O’Reilly/Alamy George McMillan, executive headteacher at Harris Academy schools in Greenwich and Ockendon in Essex, said: “For A-level we are already able to make the courses work economically, you need at least 100 students in each year group. Anything that isn’t popular enough can’t run.” He said many schools were already asking staff to teach subjects outside their major due to teacher shortages, and this would increase as a result of the funding crisis. “Science is often taught by PE teachers. Computer science, which has been hard to find teachers for many years, is being taught by maths teachers, often reluctantly,” he said. “If this is permanent, it becomes demoralizing for staff and they leave.” He said academies feared being targeted by Ofsted for not offering a broad enough curriculum, but there was not enough money or staff to do it properly. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He predicted that schools would try to save money by replacing a “very good experienced teacher” with someone just starting out. But he warned that with the number of new trainees starting secondary initial teacher training down 23% this year compared to 2019, “even finding a new teacher is difficult”. Adam Watt, vice-chancellor and professor of French at the University of Exeter, said: “If opportunities to develop language skills become the property of only those who can afford a private education, it will seriously reduce the potential of our future workforce.” He argued that learning languages ​​such as French and German at school teaches young people “communication skills, multi-tasking, flexibility of thinking and, above all, awareness and openness to diversity”. A DfE spokesman said core funding for schools this year included a £4bn cash boost, which will support them in delivering a “broad and balanced curriculum”.