Correspondence

ESFA e-bulletin for academies: 8 February 2018

Published 8 February 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This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2019

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.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 trusts and the public sector apprenticeship target

From April 2019, academy trusts with 250 or more staff will be required to report the number of people they employed as new apprentices between April 2018 and March 2019.

The requirement comes after changes to the public sector apprenticeship target regulations, which originally exempted charities (and, therefore, academy trusts).

The regulations, introduced by the government in April 2017, require public bodies with 250 or more staff to aim to employ at least 2.3% of their headcount in England as new apprentices between April 2017 and March 2021.

DfE set out its intention that all state schools, including academies, would be within scope of the target in the apprenticeships guide for schools.

Trusts with 250 or more staff will be required to report on their progress for the first time from 2019 (for apprenticeship starts between April 2018 and March 2019).

Trusts do not need to publish and report their progress towards meeting the target for new apprentices starting between April 2017 and March 2018.

You can read more information about the apprenticeship target and reporting progress on GOV.UK.

2. Information: academy general annual grant funding allocations: 2018 to 2019

We’ll begin issuing 2018 to 2019 general annual grant allocation statements towards the end of February 2018. We expect to issue all allocation statements to academies that opened before or on 1 January 2018 by the end of March 2018.

Allocations for 2018 to 2019 for February and March 2018 opening academies will be issued by mid-April 2018.

We’ll upload allocation statements to the ‘revenue funding’ folder (2018/19) in the Document Exchange section of Information Exchange. We encourage you to check your access to Document Exchange via Secure Access so that you’re able to view your statement as soon as it becomes available. For support and guidance about Information Exchange, please visit our support page.

Each academy’s statement will be uploaded as soon as it’s finalised following confirmation of the relevant local authority’s funding formula. Multi-academy trusts should note that this means allocation statements for all academies in the trust might not be uploaded at the same time.

We’ve published a range of information about academy revenue funding allocations and a collection of videos about schools funding in 2018 to 2019.

3. Reminder: spring school census closes Wednesday 14 February

The spring school census 2018 deadline for approved submissions is Wednesday 14 February. The database will close to amendments from schools and local authorities on Wednesday 14 March.

We would like to remind all schools with a return status in COLLECT of ‘loaded and validated’ or ‘amended by source’ that, until your return has been ‘submitted’ in COLLECT, it will be deemed outstanding regardless of whether it is loaded and consequently will not be further processed by the department. When you have completed any validation or editing of your return, and the status has changed to ‘loaded and validated’ or ‘amended by source’, you must press the ‘submit’ button in COLLECT to confirm you are content for your return to be processed by the department.

4. Information: concrete cladding - monitoring building condition

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has published guidance about concrete cladding - monitoring building condition on GOV.UK.

This is to support monitoring of building condition by schools and responsible bodies. The guidance recommends periodic inspection. It provides information to help schools and responsible bodies undertake such inspections.

The guidance is for those responsible for maintaining school buildings. This includes head teachers, business managers and facilities managers.

5. Information: input to ESFA customer experience

We are conducting 45 minute telephone interviews between 26 February to 9 March to seek customer feedback on ESFA services.

If you are from a local authority, academy trust, maintained school or college and would be interested in being interviewed or joining an online group please email: josie.appleby@education.gov.uk.

6. Information: National Apprenticeship Week 2018 – get involved

National Apprenticeship Week 2018 takes place from 5 to 9 March 2018. The theme of the week is Apprenticeships Work to showcase how apprenticeships work for employers, individuals, local communities and the wider economy.

Schools, colleges and universities have a key role to play in both inspiring young people and delivering apprenticeships.

You can support the week by getting involved in #10KTalks by inviting a passionate apprentice, or former apprentice, to talk to their students about their experience and help inspire the next generation of apprentices. To find out more, watch here how Amy Grange, former degree apprentice from Capgemini, returned to her school to share her #10kTalks success story.

Visit Amazing Apprenticeships to book a #10ktalk and find out more about National Apprenticeship Week.

7. Information: Regional Schools’ Buying Hubs go live

The Regional Schools’ Buying Hubs are providing a free service to schools from 1 February 2018. If your school is in the north-west or south-west, register for this free service now and start to make the most of the benefits the hub can bring to your school.