Guidance

Mainstream academies and free schools opening after 1 September 2022

Updated 7 July 2022

This guidance was withdrawn on 2 October 2023

This has been withdrawn as it is out of date.

You can find our latest academies general annual grant allocation guides for 2023 to 2024.

Applies to England

Introduction

This operational guide helps you understand how the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has calculated your 2022 to 2023 academic year funding.

This guide supports your general annual grant (GAG) statement. It sets out the funding you will receive, how we have calculated it, the factors that have been applied and the source of the data we use.

For 2022 to 2023, we have continued to use the national funding formula (NFF) for schools and for high needs, to allocate budgets to local authorities.

It is important to note that the NFF school-level allocations and the online tool we published in October 2021 were notional allocations only. In 2022 to 2023, local authorities have continued to set a local formula which has determined individual school budgets in their authority. As in previous years, local authorities have submitted this local formula to us so that we can produce and issue academies allocation statements. Your GAG statement reflects the local formula.

Who is the guide for?

This guide is for mainstream academies and free schools (including university technical colleges (UTCs) and studio schools) opening between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2023, including those with designated special units and resourced provision. Separate guidance is available for special and alternative provision academies.

How to use the guide

We have produced this guide in a format that allows you to easily access the specific parts that interest you, or areas where you require more detailed information.

The sections take you through an example funding statement table by table, explaining each line in turn, where there are differences between a mainstream academy and a free school these will be explained.

We recognise that GAG funding makes up only part of the overall funding for your academy. The section at the end of the guide lists the main non-GAG revenue and capital funding lines. It includes links to information about how and when these are paid.

Further information

Further information about academy revenue funding allocations is available.

What’s new in 2022 to 2023?

The changes to funding in 2022 to 2023 are summarised below and you can find more information on the technical aspects of these in subsequent sections..

Further policy information on pre-16 schools funding arrangements for 2022 to 2023 is also available. This includes the operational guidance on schools revenue funding, which sets out the factors that local authorities can use in their funding formula. We have also published high needs funding arrangements for 2022 to 2023.

Changes to the funding formula

The key changes to the funding methodology for 2022 to 2023 are set out below. It is important to note that local authorities have some flexibility about how they reflect these changes in their local formula, so you may not see these reflected in your GAG statement.

Teachers Pay Grant (TPG) and Teachers Pension Employer Contribution Grant (TPECG)

As TPG and TPECG are now fully rolled into the dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations, no separate adjustments are needed beyond what was already done in the 2021 to 2022 allocation calculations.

TPG and TPECG ceased from the 2021 to 2022 academic year and, instead, the funding was delegated through the DSG. This funding effectively formed part of the schools block (SBS) allocation. To ensure a like-for-like comparison when calculating minimum funding guarantee (MFG), the MFG calculation was required to include an adjustment to the 2020 to 2021 baseline calculation to include TPG and TPECG allocations. No such adjustment is needed this year.

Sparsity distance calculation

The distance pupils live away from their second nearest school is now a ‘road-distance’ measure, no longer a ‘crow flies’ measurement.

Sparsity distance tapering

Local authorities have an option to use a ‘taper’ to effectively reduce the sparsity distance thresholds set out in the sparsity section below. Where applied, a school with sparsity distance less than the main threshold but over 80%, would receive funding, with that funding being greater the closer they are to the main threshold.

The GAG statement explained

The following sections of this guide walk you through the GAG statement for the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

Please note that the figures in the sample tables A to E are intended as an illustration only.

Summary statement

The first page of your GAG statement is a summary of the tables that make up your GAG. The information used to populate the summary table comes from each of the tables in your statement. Section 2 (high needs allocation) will only be populated if your academy has a designated special unit. De-delegation funding retained by the local authority is only made to mainstream academies that open between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023.

Table A – school budget share

Table A sets out how we calculate your SBS. Your local authority agrees funding factors and rates in consultation with its schools forum and supplies these to ESFA using the local authority proforma tool. We apply these to your academy pupil numbers.

Pupil numbers are derived either from your autumn 2021 validated school census return or your agreed estimate of pupil numbers for the 2022 to 2023 academic year, depending on the terms of your funding agreement. However, where the local authority notifies us of variations in school census numbers through their authority proforma tool (for planned growth or infrastructure changes) then these will be used to calculate your allocation. Table E gives further information about the pupil numbers we use in the calculation of your allocation.

For free schools, your pupil numbers will be taken from the finance plans in the first year of opening.

We do not make a deduction to your SBS pupil numbers for high needs places. Instead, we determine the SBS based on the total number of pupils on roll, including those in the special unit or resourced provision.^{[footnote 1]}.

Table A - structure description

Factor

This column shows the names of the factors through which the local authority can allocate funding.

There are 3 mandatory factors that all local authorities must use in their funding formula: basic entitlement age weighted pupil unit (AWPU), deprivation, and minimum per pupil funding levels (MPPFL). All other factors are optional.

Factors are labelled as either pupil-led or non-pupil-led. Pupil-led factors are driven by pupil numbers or pupil characteristics. At least 80% of a local authority’s schools block funding must flow through pupil-led factors. However, this may not be the case for every individual school.

Non-pupil-led factors could include lump sum, split-site funding, private finance initiative (PFI) and exceptional circumstances.

The exceptional circumstances lines will only appear on your statement if your local authority has ESFA agreement that it can apply exceptional factors and these are applicable to your academy.

Description

This column gives you more information about the basis for the calculation.

Full year funding amount

For mainstream academies this is the amount the local authority has calculated for the 2022 to 2023 financial year. For free schools in your first year, this is the amount that has been calculated from your finance plan.

Part year funding amount

This is a proportion of the full 2022 to 2023 financial year amount calculated by the local authority. It is based on the number of days between the date the academy opened and the end of the academic year on 31 August 2023. The heading will be adapted according to the opening date of the academy. For academies opening on 1 September 2022, this will be equivalent to the full year funding amount.

Total pupil-led factors

This shows the total of all the pupil-led factors applicable to your academy.

Total other factors

This shows the total of all the non-pupil-led factors applicable to your academy.

Total school budget share

This is the sum of your pupil-led factors and non-pupil-led factors (excluding rates but including any applicable MPPFL uplift).

Percentage included in notional SEN

Local authorities will have identified a notional special educational needs (SEN) budget in each SBS. This is called notional because it is not a separate budget and academies can make their own decisions about how much to spend on SEN support given the needs of their pupils.

When planning their budgets, academies should take into account that they must meet the costs of additional support for pupils with SEN up to £6,000 from their SBS (including the notional SEN funding).

The total notional SEN budget is made up of a proportion of various factors included in your SBS, depending on the local formula. The factors included and the proportion attributed to your notional SEN budget allocation is decided locally.

Funding previously de-delegated

Funding for services is delegated by local authorities to schools through the funding formula. Maintained schools collectively may then pass back, or de-delegate, funding to the local authority for certain services to be provided centrally, with the approval of the schools forum. A list of those services for which funding can be de-delegated can be found in the schools funding 2022 to 2023 operational guide

In order to give the local authority time to plan services, some de-delegated funds are retained by local authorities after maintained schools convert to academy status. In these cases, new academies do not receive the de-delegated funds until an agreed point later in the year. Until this point local authorities should continue to provide services to new academies where funding is de-delegated, if they are asked to do so.

Academies opening on 1 September 2022 will receive the full de-delegated amount for the academic year and should therefore secure these services independently from this point.

For academies opening after 1 September 2022, de-delegation funding will only be provided for the period from 1 April 2023 onwards. Until this point the local authority should continue to provide the services to new academies where funding is de-delegated, if they are asked to do so. If the local authority is unable to provide the requested service then they could, alternatively, pay the funding directly to the academy.

Sample Table A – school budget share

This example for an academy opening on 1 November 2022 includes explanations to help you understand your own table A.

1. Basic entitlement age weighted pupil unit (AWPU)

For 2022 to 2023, the basic entitlement for primary and secondary pupils are £2,000 and £3,000 respectively. The local authority can set different unit values for key stage 3 (KS3) and key stage 4 (KS4) but each of these must be at least £3,000 per pupil.

Local authorities also have the option to apply a reception uplift, for example to add new reception pupils starting between the autumn 2020 and January 2021 census

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Primary (including reception)	£0.00	£0.00
Key stage 3	£2,013,951. 20	£1,677,373.05
Key stage 4	£1,841,439.36	£1,533,691,96

2. Deprivation (mandatory factor)

The Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) measures the proportion of children under the age of 16 that live in low income households in the local area.

Your local authority formula can use any combination of IDACI categories and/or free school meals and Ever6 data to allocate its deprivation funding.

A separate rate can be paid for each of the 6 categories in the IDACI index, and for the primary and secondary phases.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Primary IDACI band F	£0.00	£0.00
Primary IDACI band E	£0.00	£0.00
Primary IDACI band D	£0.00	£0.00
Primary IDACI band C	£0.00	£0.00
Primary IDACI band B	£0.00	£0.00
Primary IDACI band A	£0.00	£0.00
Secondary IDACI band F	£287.63	£239.56
Secondary IDACI band E	£ £0.00	£0.00
Secondary IDACI band D	£0.00	£0.00
Secondary IDACI band C	£0.00	£0.00
Secondary IDACI band B	£595.08	£495.62
Secondary IDACI band A	£0.00	£0.00

Primary free school meals

This is the number of children in primary year groups in your academy eligible for a free school meal (FSM). Pupils eligible for FSM are recorded in the October 2021 school census. Note that if a local authority uses free school meals it can include either FSM or FSM6, or both.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Primary free school meals (FSM)	£0.00	£0.00

Primary FSM6

These are primary pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at any time in the past 6 years. The FSM6 indicator is produced by mapping the pupil premium 2021 to 2022 dataset onto the October 2021 census.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Primary FSM6	£0.00	£0.00

Secondary free school meals

This is the number of children in secondary year groups in your academy that are eligible for a free school meal. Pupils eligible for FSM are recorded in the October 2021 school census. Note that if a local authority uses free school meals it can include either FSM or FSM6, or both.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Secondary FSM	£11,294.92	£9,407.28

Secondary FSM6

These are secondary pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at any time in the past 6 years. The FSM6 indicator is produced by mapping the pupil premium 2021 to 2022 dataset onto the October 2021 census.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Secondary FSM6	£71,981.53	£59,951.74

3. Looked after children (LAC) (optional factor)

The term ‘looked-after’ refers to children under 18 who have been provided with care and accommodation by children’s services. The measure uses data collected from the SSDA903 return mapped onto the spring school census. This factor covers all children who have been looked after for a day or more to 31 March 2021.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
LAC	£0.00	£0.00

4. Prior attainment (optional factor)

Primary low attainment

This factor may be applied for primary pupils identified as not achieving the expected level of development within the early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP).

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Primary attainment: primary low attainment	£0.00	£0.00

Secondary low attainment

For secondary pupils, funding is targeted at all pupils who did not achieve the expected standard at either reading or writing or maths at key stage 2 (KS2).

Due to coronavirus (COVID-19), and following the cancellation or incompleteness of assessments in summer 2020 and summer 2021, local authorities will use 2019 assessment data as a proxy for assessments which would have taken place in 2020 and 2021.

The same national weighting of 64.53% for pupils in year 9 will therefore also be used for those who are years 7 and 8 in the academic year 2022 to 2023. The national weighting for pupils in year 10 will be 63.59% and for pupils in year 11 it will be 58.05%.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Secondary attainment: secondary pupils not achieving the expected standards in KS2 tests	£216,858.28	£180,616.21

5. English as an additional language (EAL) (optional factor)

Local authorities can choose to fund EAL for 1, 2 or 3 years from the point where the pupil joins statutory education in England.

EAL band 1 refers to all pupils in the first year of statutory education, EAL band 2 includes those in their first or second year and EAL band 3 includes all pupils in their first, second or third year. The data will be taken from the national pupil database. The rate can differ for primary and secondary pupils.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Primary EAL band 1	£0.00	£0.00
Primary EAL band 2	£0.00	£0.00
Primary EAL band 3	£0.00	£0.00
Secondary EAL band 1	£0.00	£0.00
Secondary EAL band 2	£0.00	£0.00
Secondary EAL band 3	£0.00	£0.00

6. Mobility over 6% (optional factor)

‘Pupil mobility’ refers to pupils who started the school at an unusual time during the last 3 academic years, that is not in September (or not in January for pupils joining in reception).

This factor allows funding to be targeted at schools experiencing levels of pupil mobility in excess of 6% of the whole school cohort.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Primary pupils starting school outside of normal entry dates (proportion above 6%)	£0.00	£0.00
Secondary pupils starting school outside of normal entry dates (proportion above 6%)	£0.00	£0.00

Total pupil-led factors

In this example, £4,156,408.00 (full year funding amount) and £3,461,775.43 (part year funding amount based on being open 304 days).

7. Lump sum (optional factor)

The upper limit of the lump sum is £175,000. Local authorities may set a different lump sum for primary and secondary schools. All-through academies get the secondary rate, and middle schools get an average based on the number of year groups present in each phase.

Any schools that merged in the previous financial year will receive an allocation equivalent to 85% of the combined lump sums they would have received as separate establishments. The additional amount will be shown under the exceptional circumstance 1 line at the bottom of table A.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Lump sum	£108,606.33	£90,455.68

8. Split sites (optional factor)

This is an amount agreed by the local authority to cover additional costs associated with running a school across different sites. If the local authority chooses to apply this factor it must be based on clear criteria and a clear methodology for calculating the funding and be shown in the local authorities proforma.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Split sites	£0.00	£0.00

9. Private finance initiative (PFI) (optional factor)

This factor funds the additional costs of being in a PFI contract. This is not necessarily the full cost. This factor can relate to additional premises costs and/or the affordability gap of the contract where this has been delegated. There is no limit to how much a local authority can allocate to this but they must set out a clear methodology for calculating the funding.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
PFI	£0.00	£0.00

10. London fringe (optional factor)

This factor supports schools that have to pay higher teacher salaries because they are in 1 of 5 local authorities in the London fringe area, where only part of the authority is in this area. These are: Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and West Sussex. It is applied as a multiplier to the 7 pupil-led factors, the lump sum factor and the sparsity factor.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
London fringe	£0.00	£0.00

Total other factors

In this example, £108,606.33 (full year funding amount) and £90,455.68 (part year funding amount based on being open 304 days).

Exceptional circumstance 1 (optional factor)

This is the additional amount payable as a result of the amalgamation. It is 85% of the combined lump sums from the year after amalgamation. Additional lump sums may be agreed in a second year after amalgamation, these will be shown as one of exceptional circumstances 3 to 7.

Note that this exceptional circumstance line will only appear in table A if your local authority has an approved exceptional factor and it applies to your academy.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Exceptional circumstance 1: Additional lump sum for schools amalgamated during the financial year 2021 to 2022)	£0.00	£0.00

Exceptional circumstance 2

Local authorities can apply to include an additional lump sum of up to £50,000 for very small secondary schools in sparsely populated areas.

Note that this exceptional circumstance line will only appear in table A if your local authority has an approved exceptional factor and it applies to your academy.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Exceptional circumstance 2: Additional sparsity lump sum for small schools	£0.00	£0.00

Exceptional circumstances 3 to 7

Local authorities may request the inclusion of additional factors in their formula for exceptional circumstances relating to the nature of their premises. Such factors have to be approved by ESFA. To qualify as ‘exceptional’ these factors must normally affect fewer than 5% of schools (including academies) in the authority and the cost for the institution must normally exceed 1% of their budget.

Note that these lines will only appear in table A if your local authority has an approved exceptional factor and it applies to your academy

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Exceptional circumstance 3 (optional)	£0.00	£0.00
Exceptional circumstance 4 (optional)	£0.00	£0.00
Exceptional circumstance 5 (optional)	£0.00	£0.00
Exceptional circumstance 6 (optional)	£0.00	£0.00
Exceptional circumstance 7 (optional)	£0.00	£0.00

Prior year adjustment (optional)

Local authorities can apply an adjustment to total funding where they wish to make an amendment relating to funding paid in the prior year that will be added to or deducted from the current year’s allocation.

Note that this line will only appear in table A if it applies to your academy.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Prior year adjustment (optional)	£0.00	£0.00

MPPFL rate

See the minimum per pupil funding level section for more detail.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
MPPFL rate. Minimum per pupil funding level (as set by the local authority)	£5, 525.00	-

MPPFL adjustment (if applicable)

Any adjustment to the SBS as a result of applying a minimum funding per pupil rate will be shown here. This is calculated as the minimum per pupil level rate, less the per pupil allocation, multiplied by number on roll.

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
MPPFL adjustment (if applicable) : total adjustment required to ensure the academy meets the MPPFL rate set by the local authority	£0.00	£0.00

Totals in this example

Description	Full year funding amount	Part year funding amount (eg 1 November 2022 opener 304 days)
Total school budget share (excluding rates)	£4,265,014.33	£3,552,231.11
Of which notional SEN budget	£341,201.12	£284,178.46
Funding previously delegated	£12,287.38	£10,233.56
De-delegation funding retained by the LA	-	(-£5, 163.05)

Minimum per pupil funding level (MPPFL)

The NFF provides a minimum per pupil funding value when setting the funding levels for local authorities. These minimum per pupil values have increased for 2022 to 2023.

The calculation of the minimum per pupil funding rate has been simplified to ensure consistency for all schools, including those with non-standard year groups.

The use of the minimum per pupil rate has also been made mandatory, though, in certain circumstances, local authorities can apply to change the rate(s) through the ‘disapplication’ process.

The calculation of the ‘test’ for any uplift for the minimum per pupil funding has been simplified; the option for the local authority to exclude elements of funding has been removed so that now mobility is always included in the calculation and premises (for example, rates, private finance initiative (PFI), split sites) are always excluded.

To ensure consistency for all schools, including those with non-standard year groups, this year we have simplified the calculation for a school’s individual minimum per pupil levels within the NFF. For all schools, we will now apply the following calculation:

((Number of primary year groups R - Y6 × £4,265) + (Number of KS3 year groups Y7 - Y9 × £5,525) + (Number of KS4 year groups Y10 & Y11 × £5,831))

divided by total number of year groups

This calculation will provide per-pupil funding of at least £4,265 for each primary school, and £5,525 for each secondary school with standard structures of 7 and 5 year groups respectively. For middle schools, all-through schools and other schools with a non-standard year group structure this will produce a specific minimum per pupil value that relates to the number of year groups in each phase.

The total academy allocation (less excluded factors mentioned above) is divided by the funded number on roll (NOR) (reception to year 11) to arrive at the per pupil allocation for comparing with the MPPFL.

If the academy’s per pupil allocation is higher than the minimum per pupil rate set by the local authority, the MPPFL adjustment allocation is zero. Otherwise, the MPPFL adjustment allocation is calculated as the minimum per pupil level rate, less the calculated per pupil allocation, multiplied by NOR.

Where an academy receives a minimum per pupil funding level allocation, they will be exempt from capping and scaling in the MFG calculation. Similarly, where they do not receive a MPPFL allocation, capping and scaling will not take the budget lower than the minimum per pupil funding level.

Further details are included in the MFG section.

The sparsity factor

For each school, those pupils for whom the school is the closest eligible school are identified and then the average distance to the second nearest eligible school for these pupils is calculated. Distances are calculated using the road-miles distance from a pupil’s postcode to a school’s postcode. This has been calculated using pupil and school postcode coordinates from the autumn pupil level and school level census.

For the purposes of this factor, selective grammar and single-sex schools are not considered when identifying this second nearest school. In addition, pupils living outside of England are excluded from the sparsity distance calculations.

The school size criteria in the sparsity calculation is based on average year group.

A school may attract sparsity funding if it meets the following criteria, bearing in mind that the LA may select a distance taper which, where applied, schools with a sparsity distance less than the main threshold but over 80% will reduce these average distances:

Phase	Average year group size fewer than:	Average distance from second nearest school (if taper not selected)
Primary	21.4 pupils	2 miles or more
Middle	69.2 pupils	2 miles or more
Secondary	120 pupils	3 miles or more
All-through	62.5 pupils	2 miles or more

Local authorities can narrow the eligibility criteria by increasing the average distance to the second nearest school or reducing the pupil number thresholds. They may not widen the eligibility criteria. Local authorities can determine a sparsity lump sum for each of the above phases, up to a maximum of £100,000 per academy in each case. They can also use a ‘taper’ so that the amount paid to an institution is relative to their pupil numbers. This means the smallest schools receive higher sparsity funding.

Local authorities can apply the NFF methodology, which gives the lump sum to the smallest schools and then applies a taper for those with an average year group size greater than 50% of the threshold.

Where the LA chooses to use the new sparsity distance threshold, mirroring NFF, schools with a sparsity distance between the distance taper threshold and the main threshold will attract some sparsity funding through the NFF. This is a change that has been introduced for 2022 to 2023. The amount depends on both their size and how far away their sparsity distance is from the main threshold. The closer the school’s sparsity distance to the main distance threshold, the greater their allocation and vice versa. Schools with a sparsity distance half-way between the distance taper threshold and the main threshold will receive half as much as they would were they equal to or above the main threshold.

Local authorities can also apply to ESFA to include an additional lump sum of up to £50,000 for very small secondary schools in sparsely populated areas. The criteria for eligibility of a school are:

• pupils present in years 10 and 11

• 350 pupils or fewer

• a sparsity distance of 5 miles or more

If this additional funding applies to your academy it will be shown in the exceptional circumstances part of table A.

Table B – Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG)

MFG does not apply to free schools who will instead receive funding protection in their first year of opening.

Table B sets out how your MFG is calculated In your first year of opening this is calculated by the local authority. The MFG is a protection against changes in per pupil SBS funding between the 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 academic years. The amount of protection will vary according to the impact of local changes in the funding formula and the effect of these on individual per pupil rates.

In 2022 to 2023, local authorities have the flexibility to set local MFG between +0.5% and +2% per pupil in order to offer higher levels of protection locally.

To determine whether to apply the MFG, we calculate and compare the MFG per pupil values for the 2 academic years. If the change in per pupil funding is less than the MFG rate set by the local authority, then an MFG adjustment is applied to ensure per pupil funding increases by the MFG rate.

Where the local authority chooses to apply capping and scaling, if there is a change in per pupil funding of more than the cap they set, then gains over this cap are scaled back according to the scaling factor the local authority chooses to apply.

As the MFG calculation operates at a per pupil level, not on the overall SBS, we do not protect falling budgets caused by a reduction in pupil numbers.

MFG is not calculated for special and alternative provision academies, as these are funded for the number of agreed high needs places.

MFG applies to pupils in reception to year 11, excluding any reception uplift if it is applied by the local authority.

Exclusions and adjustments

A number of exclusions and adjustments are applied to the respective SBS to ensure a valid comparison.

Exclusions

The funding lines automatically excluded from the MFG calculation are:

• early years funding – this is paid by the local authority and not included in the SBS

• the current year and baseline lump sum – this is not treated as a per pupil amount because for small schools the lump sum forms a significant amount per pupil. If it were included in the MFG calculation it would build in excessive protection where a school is increasing its numbers

• the current year and baseline sparsity factor - sparsity is handled in the same way as the lump sum though it is not in itself per pupil funding so including it would distort the protection that MFG provides,

Any additional lump sum funding received in the 2021 to 2022 academic year by academies that amalgamated during the 2020 to 2021 academic year, is deducted from the baseline only. Any additional lump sum funding in the 2022 to 2023 academic year for academies previously amalgamated is excluded from the 2022 to 2023 MFG budget, but not the baseline.

If local authorities wish to exclude any additional funding lines from the MFG calculation (from either the 2021 to 2022 baseline funding or the 2022 to 2023 academic year funding) they must make an exceptional case to ESFA, however local authorities can exclude other premises factors from the MFG without a disapplication, if they wish to mirror the NFF.

An example of an approved MFG exclusion is where a school would be receiving split site funding for the first time in the 2022 to 2023 academic year. This exclusion allows the school to receive the full benefit of the additional funding.

Similarly, where a school will no longer be operating on a split site in 2022 to 2023, the local authority may wish to exclude the split site funding from the baseline for 2021 to 2022 when calculating the MFG, so that the protection does not include funding for which the school is no longer eligible.

Technical adjustments

Local authorities can make technical adjustments to the 2021 to 2022 baseline to make this comparable with 2022 to 2023 funding in certain exceptional circumstances (these adjustments can also be made to 2022 to 2023, to match 2021 to 2022). These relate to changes in delegation, for example, where a budget was previously funded centrally and is now delegated into the funding formula, or where funding has been moved to the high needs block to commission AP places for schools as well as for the local authority.

Capping and scaling – affordability adjustments

Local authorities are able to cap and/or scale back overall gains for schools to make the funding formula affordable. The cap is the limit to which any per pupil gains in SBS can be retained by the school or academy. The scale is the degree to which gains above the cap will be scaled back in the calculation. Local authorities in consultation with their schools forums determine whether and how to limit gains. This must be applied on the same basis to all schools.

For example:

• a 4% cap and 40% scaling means gains up to 4% are kept by schools, and any gains above 4% are scaled back by 40%

• a 10% cap and 100% scaling means all gains above 10% are removed

• a 0% cap and 70% scaling means all gains are scaled back by 70%

Your SBS includes all gains before any MFG is applied. Any adjustments made as a result of capping or scaling will appear as a negative amount on your summary table.

Capping and scaling will not be applied to new schools if they have opened in the last 7 years and do not have all year groups present. The local authority may also opt not to use this if they wish.

Capping and scaling and MPPFL

Where an academy receives a MPPFL allocation, they will be exempt from capping and scaling in the MFG module.

Similarly, where an academy does not receive an MPPFL allocation, capping and scaling should not take the budget lower than the MPPFL.

Sample Table B – minimum funding guarantee

This example includes explanations to help you understand your own table B.

1. Academic year 2022 to 2023 school budget share

This is the school budget share shown in your table A. It is the 2022 to 2023 financial year allocation calculated by the local authority adjusted pro rata for the remainder of the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

Line	Value	Calculation
1. Academic year 2022 to 2023 school budget share	£3,552,231.11	From table A

2. Minimum funding guarantee (MFG) adjustment - full year

This is the calculation made by the local authority for the whole 2022 to 2023 financial year. If a local authority has applied capping or scaling then this would appear as a deduction.

Line	Value	Calculation
2. Minimum funding guarantee (MFG) adjustment - full year	£0.00	N/A

3. Pupil numbers used in original MFG calculation

Line	Value	Calculation
3. Pupil numbers used in original MFG calculation	665	N/A

4. Number of pupils actually funded

This shows the total number of pupils being funded.

Line	Value	Calculation
4. Number of pupils actually funded	665	N/A

MFG adjustment – e.g 1 November 2022 opener - 304 days pro rata

This is the total MFG adjustment, proportioned for the number of days your academy is open in the academic year. For academies opening before or on 1 September 2022 this will be equivalent to the full year amount in the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

Line	Value	Calculation
5. MFG adjustment – 304 days pro rata	£0.00	= (2 / 365 days x 304) x (4 / 3)

6. Adjusted academic year school budget share

Line	Value	Calculation
6. Adjusted academic year school budget share	£3,552,231,11	= 1 + 5

Table B: Funding protection

Funding protection only applies to free schools and only applies in place of the MFG calculation used for academies in their first year of opening.

Funding protection limits the impact of differences in the per-pupil funding element of budgets developed using the previous year’s financial template and/or ready reckoner and actual budgets based on the new local formula. The protection will limit the difference in per pupil funding to +0.5% and +2.0% per pupil in order to offer higher levels of protection locally.

This element of protection funding is only applicable for the first year of opening.

In order to determine whether the protection needs to be applied, we compare the 2021 to 2022 academic year local authority average per pupil rate (intended to be representative of the funding in that year’s free schools ‘ready reckoner’) to the 2022 to 2023 academic year local authority average per pupil rate.

If there is a fall in per pupil funding between the two academic years of more than the rate set by the local authority, then a protection amount will be payable.

The per pupil protection amount will be calculated using the 2022 to 2023 academic year pupil numbers to find the total protection amount to be added to the individual academy SBS. Table B shows the funding protection calculation. This will be shown on the GAG statement as a ‘funding protection’ amount.

Exclusions and adjustments

A number of exclusions and adjustments are applied to the respective SBSs in order to ensure a valid comparison.

Exclusions

The funding lines automatically excluded from the calculation are:

• mobility
• high needs
• sparsity
• looked after children (LAC)

Sample Table B: funding protection

The example includes explanations to help you understand your own table B.

Overall per pupil rates

Line	Value	Calculation
1. Academic year 2021 to 2022 LA overall per pupil rate	£5,609.54	N/A
2. Academic year 2022 to 2023 LA overall per pupil rate	£5,618.03	N/A

Percentage change

Percentage change in the per pupil rate between the two academic years.

Line	Value	Calculation
3. Percentage change	0.15%	= (2 - 1) / 1

Academic year 2022 to 2023 number on roll.

The total number of pupils on roll in the 2022 to 2023 academic year will be used to calculate the total protection amount.

Line	Value	Calculation
4. Academic year 2022 to 2023 number on roll	210	N/A

Funding protection floor

The total number of pupils on roll in the 2022 to 2023 academic year will be used to calculate the total protection amount.

Line	Value	Calculation
5. Funding protection floor	0.50 %	N/A

Extent below floor

Line	Value	Calculation
6. Extent below floor.	0.35 %	IF 3 < 5 Then 5 - 3 Else 0

Difference per pupil

Line	Value	Calculation
7. Difference per pupil.	£19.59	= 1 x 6

Does funding protection apply

Line	Value	Calculation
8. Does funding protection apply.	YES	= IF (3 < 5, ‘Yes’, ‘No’)

Total funding protection amount – full year

This shows the total amount of protection payable.

Line	Value	Calculation
9. Total funding protection amount – full year.	£4,113.33	= 4 x 7

Total funding protection – prorate (01 November 2022 to 31 August 2023)

The total allocation proportioned from the time you open until the end of the academic year, 31 August 2023.

Line	Value	Calculation
10. Total funding protection – prorate (1 November 2022 to 31 August 2023)	£4,113.33	= 9 x 304 days / 365 days

Table C – academic year 2022 to 2023 post-opening grant (start-up grant)

Table C will only be populated if you are due to receive start-up grant or post-opening grant funding in the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

Start-up grant (SUG)

SUG is paid to fully sponsored academies only so these lines will not be populated in your statement if you are a free school or a converter.

There are 2 elements, part A and part B. Part A is a flat rate allocation that is paid in the first year of opening. Part B is a formulaic allocation that is intended to contribute to costs, such as leadership, as a new academy grows towards full capacity. It is paid over 2 years for primary schools and 3 years for secondary schools. All pupil or place counts will be agreed at point of opening and will not change for the purposes of calculating SUG thereafter.

The part A rates and the calculation of part B are different for primary and secondary, and for special and alternative provision academies. More information is available in sponsored academies funding: advice for sponsors.

Post-opening grant (POG)

The POG only applies to free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges (UTCs).

Free schools established through the local authority presumption route will not attract POG, the local authority is responsible for the pre-opening development costs and post-opening funding required to address diseconomies of scale until the school reaches full capacity.

Free schools, studio schools and UTCs are provided with a POG to reflect the additional costs in establishing a new publicly-funded school which cannot be met through the GAG. The POG provides funding in 2 elements as the free school grows: per pupil resources, paid on a per pupil basis, and a leadership diseconomies grant. These titles reflect the basis on which the funding is calculated, but the grant can be spent on any legitimate purpose of the school.

The first element (resources) is paid each year that the school builds up to capacity for each new pupil expected to be on roll. The resources element is calculated at the time that the financial plan is agreed, prior to opening; the POG will not be reviewed on an annual basis to reflect actual pupil numbers meaning once awarded, the POG will be paid in line with the original financial plan.

The second element (leadership) is paid annually based on the number of year groups that the school will ultimately have that do not yet have pupils. The amount is paid to mainstream schools with pupils aged 5 to 15 each year depending on how many year groups (cohorts) are empty.

Sample Table C – post-opening grant (start-up grant)

The example includes explanations to help you understand your own table C.

Line	Value	Calculation	Explanation
1. Start-up grant part A	£0.00	N/A	This is a one-off payment.
2. Start-up grant part B – formulaic allocation	£0.00	N/A	The total part B value will be paid in the first 3 years after opening for secondary and the first 2 years after opening for primary academies.
3. Post-opening grant – per pupil resources	£0.00	N/A	For free schools, UTCs and studio schools, this is the total of the resource element of the POG.
4. Post-opening grant – leadership diseconomies	£0.00	-	For free schools, UTCs and studio schools, this is the total of the diseconomies element of the POG.
5.Total post-opening grant (start-up grant) allocation	£0.00	= 1 + 2 + 3 + 4	The sum of SUG or POG elements as applicable.

Table D – pre-16 high needs place funding

Table D will only be populated for those mainstream academies that have designated special units or resourced provision.

For mainstream academies and free schools, ESFA determines the rate of place funding amount based on occupancy data provided in the authority proforma tool (APT), with the number of places confirmed as part of the place change notification process. The APT is the tool local authorities use to submit their local funding formulae each year and we ask them to reflect high needs unit occupancy as at the October census for the appropriate year and use that to calculate the occupied and unoccupied places to be funded. Occupied places will be funded at £6,000. Pupils in these places will also attract funding through the mainstream school formula.

Other places are funded at £10,000. This may apply where:

• the place is or will be occupied by a pupil registered on the roll of another school

• a place isn’t occupied at the time of the school census count, but is likely to be filled, and requires funding

• spare capacity is required for another reason

ESFA confirms the number of high needs places in mainstream academies and free schools to fund in 2022 to 2023 as part of the annual place change notification process.

This provides a base level of funding. Any additional funding above this level (top-up) must be agreed with your commissioning local authority. Top-up funding is paid by the local authority and is therefore not shown on your GAG funding statement. Further information on high needs funding arrangements for 2022 to 2023 is available.

For any schools converting to an academy who are outside the scope of the annual place change notification process, place numbers will be determined using high needs and alternative provision (September to March) data.

EFSA must be notified if the section 251 data does not match the place numbers agreed with the local authority.

To inform ESFA of changes, notify the project lead overseeing the conversion to academy. ESFA must be notified of any change before conversion to an academy takes place. If ESFA is not notified of changes prior to conversion, section 251 will be used.

Sample Table D – pre-16 high needs place funding 2022 to 2023

The example includes explanations to help you understand your own table D.

Lines 1 and 2

Place numbers: rolled forward 2021 to 2022 places (or agreed place numbers where a change in place numbers has been requested).

Unit value: £6,000 per occupied place, £10,000 per unoccupied place

Total allocation = place numbers x unit value

Type	Place numbers	Annual per place unit value	Total pre-16 allocation	Allocation to August 2023
1 Special unoccupied	1	£10,000.00	£10,000.00	N/A
2 Special occupied	8	£6,000.00	£48,000.00	N/A

Line 3

Place numbers: rolled forward 2021 to 2022 places (or agreed place numbers where a change in place numbers has been requested).

Unit value: £10,000 per place

Total allocation = place numbers x unit value

Type	Place numbers	Annual per place unit value	Total pre-16 allocation	Allocation to August 2023
3 Alternative provision	0	£10,000.00	£0.00	N/A

Line 4

Total pre-16 allocation (special) + total pre-16 allocation (alternative provision)

In this example, £58,000.00 = 1 + 2 + 3

Table E – pupil number matrix

Table E shows the pupil numbers used in each of the calculations. The sources of pupil numbers are the autumn 2021 census or the estimates provided by academies and agreed high needs places. Within your allocation the number of pupils attracting the various funding elements may differ. For example, the calculation for minimum funding guarantee (MFG) does not include reception uplift pupils ^{[footnote 2]}.

For census-funded academies, pupil numbers are taken from the autumn 2021 validated school census using single registration at the school and current main-dual registration. However, where the local authority notifies us of variations in school census numbers (through their authority proforma tool, for planned growth or infrastructure changes) then these will be used to calculate your allocation.

For academies funded on estimates pupil numbers are drawn from the final validated revenue funding data collection (RFDC) dataset.

For free schools In your first year of opening, your pupil numbers will be taken from your finance plan.

Sample Table E – academic year 2022 to 2023 pupil number matrix

Calculation area relating to	Reception uplift (1)	Primary (2)	Secondary (3)	Total	Calculation
School Budget Share (SBS)	0	183	132	315	= 1 + 2 + 3
Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG)	N/A	183	132	315	= 2 + 3

Funding outside the GAG

The previous sections explain the elements that make up your GAG funding. As an academy you will receive other revenue funding that is not part of your GAG. This includes:

• early years funding – paid by the local authority to academies with a nursery class through the early years national funding formula (EYNFF)
• pupil premium – paid in 4 instalments by ESFA
• high needs top-up funding – paid by the local authority where required. In the case of alternative provision (AP), top-up funding can be paid directly by other schools and academies. Information about the high needs funding arrangements for 2022 to 2023 is available
• PE and sport premium - assists academies and schools to be able to deliver half of a child’s recommended daily physical activity.
• Schools supplementary grant – this is paid by the ESFA

Further information about revenue funding payments for academies, the growth fund and falling rolls fund is available.

In addition, your academy may receive capital funding from ESFA.

Risk protection arrangement (RPA)

If you are a member of RPA any adjustment made to your funding will be shown on your monthly pay schedule. It is not shown on your allocation statement as it does not affect your allocation, but does affect the amount you will receive on a monthly basis. If you opt into RPA you will not receive an adjusted allocation statement, but your monthly pay schedule will be reissued. Details of the values for new academies are on the monthly remittance advice notes issued to the academy trust.

1. We have made an adjustment between the high needs block, and the schools block for each local authority to reflect this. Place funding rates reflect this as set out in Table D. ↩

2. Your local authority can opt to apply a reception uplift to your pupil numbers. The pupils counted in the reception uplift are also counted in all primary pupil-led factor calculations in the SBS, however, they are not included in the calculation of MFG. ↩