Correspondence

ESFA e-bulletin for academies: 29 March 2018

Published 29 March 2018

This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2019

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Information: academy trust guide to reducing fraud

We’ve updated the academy trust guide to reducing fraud and the anti-fraud checklist. We’ve also added new information and a checklist covering cyber crime and cyber security.

This guide will help academy trusts to:

• reduce the risk of fraud or financial irregularity
• deal with fraud within your academy trust, should it occur
• report fraud, theft and/or irregularity to ESFA
• be aware of and manage cyber crime risks

2. Information: government response to consultations on changes to the criteria for agreeing local authority loan schemes for maintained schools.

On 22 March, the government published its response to the 2 consultations on changes to the criteria for agreeing local authority loan schemes for maintained schools.

As a result of the response to the consultation, we’ve updated the:

• scheme for financing schools statutory guidance
• treatment of surpluses and deficits when a maintained school becomes an academy guidance

This is in line with the revisions proposed in both consultations.

The scheme for financing schools statutory guidance includes a directed revision. This means that all local authorities must update their schemes for financing schools.

As of 22 March 2018, there are changes where a maintained school converts to an academy. We now expect that the academy will only continue to repay a new loan or changes to an existing loan agreed between the local authority and its predecessor maintained school in certain circumstances.

That is where the loan was ‘to assist the school in spreading the cost over more than one year for a large one-off individual item of capital nature that has had or will have a benefit to the school lasting more than one financial year’.

Further changes have been made to both documents to reflect updated legislation.

3. Information: introduction of T levels: information for education providers

The department has published current information about T levels for providers on GOV.UK.

4. Information: 16 to 19 revenue funding allocation statements for 2018 to 2019

We have now uploaded the majority of 16 to 19 revenue funding allocation statements to ESFA Information Exchange for all provider types. Any remaining statements are on hold due to institution data issues or where funding arrangements are yet to be confirmed. We will continue to upload these are they become available.

We’re uploading allocation statements to the Document Exchange ‘revenue funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2018-19 (2018/19)’. Document Exchange is accessible by logging into Information Exchange, and choosing the Document Exchange tab at the top of the page. For support and guidance about Information Exchange, please visit our support page.

We have published detailed guidance to help you understand your allocation.

5. Information: Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) 2018 to 2019 outcome

ESFA has published the Condition Improvement Fund 2018 to 2019 outcome. This will provide £514 million funding for 1,556 projects at 1,299 academies and sixth-form colleges.

We will make information and feedback for unsuccessful projects available on the CIF portal from w/c 16 April 2018.

We expect to announce details of the next round for applications to CIF in autumn 2018.

6. Information: schools efficiency metric

A new version of the schools efficiency metric has been published on GOV.UK.

The metric provides a simple indication of how effectively a school uses the funding available to it to support pupil progress. The metric is not intended to be used as an accountability tool, rather it should be used as a prompt for discussion within and between schools to identify if, how and where improvements could be made to improve school efficiency.

The new version of the metric reflects progress measures in reading, writing and maths for primary schools, and the Progress 8 measure for secondary schools for the 2015 to 2016 academic year.

7. Information: benchmarking report cards

On 29 March benchmarking report cards based on spending in 2015 to 2016 will be distributed to academies. For the first time, Alternative Provision (AP) Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRU) will also receive benchmarking report cards. These report cards provide highlights of spending compared with similar schools.

Benchmarking report cards which reflect spending in 2016 to 2017 will be sent later in the year. Further benchmarking information can be found on the schools financial benchmarking service.

If you have any comments or suggestions of how we might improve benchmarking report cards for AP Schools or PRUs, please contact us.

8. Information: schools financial benchmarking: revenue reserves

As a result of feedback from schools, the schools financial benchmarking service now contains information on revenue reserves.

This can be found in the sections marked ‘balance’ for individual schools and multi-academy trusts, and as part of the comparison charts.

This is the first time that academy revenue reserves have been included in a financial benchmarking service, and an explanation of this data can be found in the relevant ‘more information’ section of the service.

9. Information: FE residential accommodation: national minimum standards

On 28 March the Department for Education published its response to the consultation on the revision of the national minimum standards for residential accommodation for under 18s in the further education (FE) sector and 16 to 19 academies.

The new national minimum standards were published on the same date, and will come into force from September 2018.

10. Information: find an apprenticeship and Civil Service fast track apprenticeships

Do you know that find an apprenticeship gives individuals the opportunity to search and apply for thousands of apprenticeship vacancies? Currently roles available include higher apprenticeships across 6 fast track routes within the Civil Service.

The level 4 apprenticeships offer a permanent job in the Civil Service with starting salaries of £19,500 - £27,000 with on the job and structured learning during the apprenticeship and beyond. With over 750 roles on offer across the UK, Civil Service fast track is a genuine alternative to university for those who are ready to earn, learn and succeed.

For more information go to find an apprenticeship or the Fast Track website.