Special and alternative provision academies and special free schools 2022 to 2023
Updated 7 July 2022
Applies to England
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Introduction
This operational guide helps you understand how the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has calculated your 2022 to 2023 academic year funding. We have developed the guide in consultation with a sample of academies to make sure it meets your needs.
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’ll continue to use the national funding formula (NFF) for schools, high needs and central school services, to allocate budgets to local authorities.
Who is the guide for?
This guide is for special and alternative provision (AP) academies and special and AP free schools open in the 2022 to 2023 academic year. For academies opening within the academic year the funding will be pro-rata accounting for the number of days open in the academic year. Separate guidance is available for mainstream academies and free schools.
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.
We recognise that GAG funding makes up only part of the overall funding for your academy so we’ve added a section to the end of the guide listing the main non-GAG revenue and capital funding lines. This section includes links to information about how and when these are paid.
Summary statement
The first page of your GAG statement is a summary of the tables that make up the remainder of your GAG. The information used to populate the summary table comes from each of the tables in your statement.
Table A - high needs place funding
Local authorities have a role in funding high needs pupils in academies, as a commissioner of special education provision for these pupils. This means that academies receive funding for pupils with high needs from both ESFA (place funding) and local authorities (top-up funding). In the case of Alternative Provision (AP), the top-up funding can also come directly from other schools, where they commission places directly.
More information about the role of the local authority in agreeing and commissioning high needs places is available in high needs funding arrangements for 2022 to 2023.
High needs funding for pre-16 special educational needs (SEN) is funded on the number of agreed places, AP (which by definition is pre 16 only) is also funded on a per place basis.
In the 2022 to 2023 academic year, we will roll forward your 2021 to 2022 academic year place numbers and use these to calculate your allocation. The exception to this is where your local authority has requested a change in place numbers which was agreed with you (or accepted by ESFA where there was disagreement). In this instance, we would use this changed figure in your allocation. More information on this process is available in high needs funding arrangements: 2022 to 2023.
Free schools are out of scope of this process. Place numbers for free schools will be determined by ESFA based on a range of data, including the school’s financial plan, commissioning arrangements and occupancy levels.
Top-up funding above these levels, based on the assessed needs of the pupil and the cost of meeting these in the setting, should be agreed between the commissioning local authority and the special or AP academy. Top-up funding is paid for the period that the pupil is actually occupying the place in the academy. It is paid directly to the academy on a monthly basis, unless a different payment frequency is agreed with the local authority.
Top-up funding for pupils in AP can be paid directly by other academies and schools if they commission the places for those pupils. As top-up funding is not paid by ESFA, it is not shown on your GAG funding statement. Read the high needs funding 2022 to 2023: operational guide for more information on top up funding, including the minimum funding guarantee for special schools at its annex 1.
Hospital education places that exist in some academies will be funded at the same rate as in 2021 to 2022, unless the local authority has agreed a higher rate. Pupils occupying these places do not attract top-up funding.
More information on high needs funding is available.
Sample table A: high needs place funding
The example includes explanations to help you understand your own table A.
Pre-16 breakdown
Place numbers
for academies: rolled forward pre-16 2021 to 2022 places (or agreed place numbers where a change in place numbers has been requested);
for free schools: as agreed by ESFA
Unit value: £10,000
Total allocation = place numbers x unit value
Allocation to August 2023: (this column will only appear for academies opened within AY 2022-2023) = Total allocation x days open / 365
| Type | Place numbers | Annual per place unit value | Total pre-16 allocation | Allocation to August 2023 | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Special | 134 | £10,000.00 | £1,340,000.00 | £1,340,000.00 | - |
| Type | Place numbers | Annual per place unit value | Total pre-16 allocation | Allocation to August 2023 | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2. Alternative provision | 0 | £10,000.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | - |
| Type | Place numbers | Annual per place unit value | Total pre-16 allocation | Allocation to August 2023 | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Total pre-16 high needs place funding | N/A | N/A | £1,340,000.00 | 1,340,000.00 | = 1 + 2 |
Hospital education breakdown
For academies: Funding per place remains the same as in 2021 to 2022, unless the local authority has agreed a higher rate. It is an amount unique to the academy that will normally have been calculated by the local authority who previously maintained the provision.
For free schools: This is calculated by the local authority based on the agreed number of places you will provide. The local authority informs ESFA of the relevant amount
| Place numbers | Total hospital funding | Allocation to August 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 334 | £5,330,737.93 | £5,330,737.93 |
Hospital education adjusted for 365 days
Total hospital education allocation, proportioned from the time you open as an academy until the end of the academic year. This will only appear for academies that opened within the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
Hospital education adjusted for 365 days (01 September 2022 – 31 August 2023).
In this example £5,330,737.93
Table B: post-opening grant (start-up grant)
Table B will only be populated in your 2022 to 2023 funding statement if you are due to receive start-up grant (SUG) or post-opening grant (POG) funding.
Start-up grant (SUG)
SUG is paid to full sponsored academies only. If your school is a free school these lines will not be populated on your statement.
For academies, 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: 50% in month 1, 25% in month 2 and 25% in month 3. However, for academies opening between April 2022 and August 2022 this will not apply in the second year of opening.
Special and AP academies do not receive start-up grant B, which is a formulaic allocation for leadership capacity.
This is because these academies receive a general annual grant (GAG) allocation per place rather than per pupil, which already takes account of staff diseconomies of scale and recognises that pupil numbers in such provision can fluctuate widely throughout the year.
More information is available in sponsored academies funding: advice for sponsors.
Post-opening grant (POG)
Free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges (UTCs) are provided with a post-opening grant 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 school grows: per pupil resources, paid on a per pupil basis, and the 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 post-opening grant will not be reviewed on an annual basis to reflect actual pupil numbers. Once awarded, the post-opening grant will be paid in line with the 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 as a set rate for up to 3 years to special schools. Alternative provision schools are calculated on a case by case basis which is agreed with the project lead.
Special and AP free schools established through the local authority presumption route will not attract POG, as 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.
Sample table B: academic year 2022 to 2023 post-opening grant (start-up grant)
| Line | Type | Value | Calculation | Explanation |
| 1 | Start-up grant part A | £0.00 | N/A | This is a one-off payment. Free schools do not receive SUG A. |
| 2 | Start-up grant part B – formulaic allocation | £0.00 | N/A | Special and AP academies do not receive SUG B. |
| 3 | Post-opening grant – per pupil resources | £10,000.00 | N/A | For special and AP free schools this is the total of the resource element of the POG. |
| 4 | Post-opening grant – leadership diseconomies | £38,000.00 | N/A | For special and AP free schools this is the total of the diseconomies element of the POG. |
| 5 | Total post-opening grant (start-up grant) allocation | £48,000.00 | = 1 + 2 + 3+ 4 | The sum of SUG or POG elements as applicable. |
Funding outside the GAG
The previous sections explain the elements that make up your pre 16 GAG funding. As an academy you will receive other revenue funding that is not part of your GAG. Some non-GAG funding has not been confirmed for 2022 to 2023 and this section will be updated as the grants are confirmed. Currently confirmed are:
-
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 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.
Risk protection arrangement (RPA)
If you are a member of the 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 after the allocation was published 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.