ESFA Update academies: 1 December 2021
Published 1 December 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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1. Action: coronavirus (COVID-19) 2021 qualifications funding claim form
The coronavirus (COVID-19) qualifications fund claim form is now live.
The deadline to submit your claim is:
| Claim type | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Private candidates | 10 January 2022 |
| Priority appeals | 10 January 2022 |
| Autumn 2021 exams costs undertaken between | |
| 1 October 2021 and 25 February 2022 | 4 March 2022 |
| 28 February 2022 and 31 March 2022 | 6 April 2022 |
We have published guidance to help you complete the form and you can also access additional guidance for private candidates and priority appeals.
You can read more about this on DfE exam support service: autumn 2021 exam fees, venues and invigilators.
2. Reminder: claims form for mass testing exceptional premises cost to close soon
Schools and academies with secondary age pupils, along with colleges and other eligible establishments, have a short time remaining to submit claims for exceptional premises costs incurred during the mass testing of pupils and students on their return at the start of the academic year 2021 to 2022.
The form and submission guidance is available on GOV.UK and the window to claim closes on Sunday, 5 December 2021. It will not be possible to submit claims after this date.
3. Reminder: changes to payment history in Manage your education and skills funding
The old interface for viewing payment history in Manage your education and skills funding will no longer be available from Thursday 9 December.
To continue to see your payment history via the new interface, please ensure you have requested the role of Payments Viewer in IDAMS by Thursday 9 December.
If you miss this deadline, you will still be able to request the Payments Viewer role but you will not able to see your payment history until the request has been actioned.
4. Information: academy finance professionals event resources & feedback
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the academy finance professionals event on 25 November 2021.
It was great to see over 800 attendees from across the sector, feedback shows you found this a useful event.
You can watch a recording of the event, which is available to stream until 10am Thursday 9 December 2021.
Please share your feedback; it is valued and will help us to shape future events.
Next week, we will share responses to your questions at the event to everyone who registered.
5. Information: new tendering ‘jargon busting’ good practice guide
We have developed a tendering ‘jargon busting’ guide for academy trusts for those involved in tendering but might not have specialist procurement training. It aims to demystify the common words and phrases used and includes examples of how they might apply in an academy trust setting. The jargon busting guide will make navigating a tendering process easier.
This is part of our series of academy trust financial management good practice guides designed to support trustees, accounting officers and chief financial officers to develop good practice in their trust.
6. Information: school resource management webinars
DfE is funding a new series of school resource management webinars covering key elements of school resource management and integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP).
All the webinars are delivered virtually, and are suitable for school business professionals, school senior leadership teams, curriculum leads and members of governing boards.
The webinars will help schools to integrate their curriculum goals and financial resource management, providing a holistic and proactive way of planning and using resources efficiently and ensuring collaborative decision making across the leadership team.
There are 6 different webinars to be held between December 2021 and March 2022:
- ICFP Metrics
- ICFP Tools
- Introduction to Benchmarking
- Estate management
- Introduction to Procurement
- Joined up Leadership for Effective Schools Resource Management
You can book now with a choice of dates from 6 December 2021 to 25 January 2022. Further dates will be added over the coming weeks.
These webinars build on previous rounds of training delivered by ISBL and Entrust Support Services.