Financial Management Standard

"To improve value for money, schools need the skills and resources to make the right decisions about the allocation of resources, supported by better information, planning and management, and better challenge and support.

The Financial Management Standard is a simple one page statement of the characteristics you would expect to find in a school that is well managed financially. These cover Leadership and Governance; People Management; Policy and Strategy; Partnership and Resources; and Processes. Those characteristics are set out in terms of the principles to be achieved, rather than the precise way they should be achieved. This reflects the fact that schools have vastly different levels of financial management resource and are organised in different ways. Nevertheless, the principles of the Standard should be achievable by all schools."

Department for Children, Schools and Families (2010), Financial Management Standard in Schools, [online], available from: http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/vfm/financial/standard/ (Accessed 10 May 2010)