ESFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 17 May 2018
Published 17 May 2018
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2018
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-e-bulletin-17-may-2018-issue-220/esfa-e-bulletin-for-schools-colleges-local-authorities-and-other-16-to-19-providers-17-may-2018
1. Information: ESFA e-bulletin subscriptions
Along with many other organisations, we are currently reviewing the way that we send out information as we prepare to implement the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As a result of our review, we have decided to change the way in which people subscribe to the ESFA bulletin, which will take affect from 24 May 2018.
If you are a head of organisation, finance director, chair of governor at a 16 to 19 provider, a director of children’s services or an officer at a local authority, you will not need to do anything and you will continue to receive the email.
To make sure we have the most up to date contact information for you please update your contact information through the My Contact Information feature on the Information Exchange.
If you are not one of the roles listed above and you want to continue receiving an email when we have published our newsletter, then you will need to subscribe to GOV.UK alerts. This way you will find out when we have published it online for you to read.
2. Action: summer school census opens today
The summer school census 2018 begins today (17 May). The deadline for approved submissions is Wednesday 13 June and we will close the database to amendments from schools and local authorities on Wednesday 4 July.
The school census guide for the 2017 to 2018 academic year and a series of videos is available on the school census website.
A data collection forum is available for all data collection contacts to access. You will require a username and password specific to the forum to access. If you do not already have a username and password and would like to request access, or if you have any questions about the facility, please complete a service request form.
3. Reminder: local authorities to submit school financial value standard chief finance officer’s statement by 31 May 2018
Local authorities are required to upload their school financial value standard chief finance officer’s statement to the ESFA’s Information Exchange by 31 May 2018.
To access Document Exchange log into ESFA Information Exchange and choose the Document Exchange tab at the top of the page. For support and guidance about ESFA Information Exchange, please visit our support page.
4. Information: free meals in further education
We have updated the free meals in further education guide for the 2018 to 2019 academic year.
The change provides additional information about Universal Credit eligibility to explain how institutions can check eligibility for those students/parents who are self-employed and in receipt of Universal Credit by asking parents to complete a self-employment declaration form. The form can be downloaded from within the guide.
This amendment ensures the guidance on free meals in further education is in line with guidance on free school meals.
5. Information: funding regulations and funding rates and formula guidance
We have published the 16 to 19 funding regulations and 16 to 19 funding rates and formula guidance for academic year 2018 to 2019 on GOV.UK.
We have only made minor changes to the documents which are outlined on GOV.UK.
6. Information: annual review of end-year 16 to 19 study programmes data
We have published the findings of the annual review of end-year 16 to 19 study programmes data for the 2015 to 2016 academic year, which includes actions for providers. This is the third annual review we have completed with the purpose of ensuring that public funding meets the core principles of study programmes.
7. Information: updated safeguarding guidance and advice for schools and colleges
The department has published the response to the recent Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) consultation. Alongside the response is revised KCSIE for information. This is to allow schools and colleges time to consider any changes they might want to make to policy and procedure before the revised guidance comes into force on 3 September 2018. Up until 3 September, schools and colleges must continue to have regard to KCSIE 2016.
The KCSIE consultation provided respondents an opportunity to comment on the effectiveness of the child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment advice. The advice has been strengthened and is available to support schools and colleges.
- KCSIE consultation response
- revised KCSIE (for information at this stage) and KCSIE 2016 (which schools and colleges must continue to have regard until 3 September 2018)
- revised child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment advice
8. Action: 3 opportunities to help us develop our services
The ESFA is always looking to continuously improve the services we offer, as part of this we would like your feedback.
Accessibility and service development user research
It is important that we ensure we develop our services so that they are accessible to all users who need them. If you or a colleague make use of adaptive technologies (for example, screen magnifiers, screen readers, speech recognition tools) to assist you in accessing digital services we would love to hear from you.
Sessions are confidential and voluntary. We can hold the sessions in a way that is best for you, face to face or a web meeting. To register interest, please email pds.mailbox@education.gov.uk with your contact details.
Developing the ESFA customer commitment
We are also looking for volunteers to provide us with feedback on our draft customer commitment that puts emphasis on understanding our customers, connecting with you effectively, keeping our focus on your needs, and improving our services based on your feedback.
This will take about 20 minutes of your time. If you would like to help please email ESFA.CHANGEPROGRAMME@education.gov.uk by 5pm on Tuesday, 22 May.
Reviewing our interactive post-16 census tool
We’re really interested in gathering feedback on our interactive post-16 census tool before we refresh it in July to improve customer experience.
If you are responsible for submitting post-16 census data and would like to review the tool, please register your interest with Ashley Roberts by Friday 25 May.