ESFA Update academies: 14 July 2021
Published 14 July 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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1. Latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Department for Education has published guidance about COVID-19 in educational settings for staff, parents and carers, pupils and students on GOV.UK.
Please check GOV.UK regularly for updates.
2. Information: letter from Eileen Milner to academy trust accounting officers
Eileen Milner, chief executive and accounting officer of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), has written to accounting officers of academy trusts.
The letter to accounting officers includes information about the academy trust handbook 2021 published on 16 June 2021.
It also draws attention to the recently published academies accounts direction, the financial management and governance good practice guides, the school resource management self-assessment tool and timetable for financial returns for 2021 to 2022.
3. Information: academies planning calendar
We have published the academies planning calendar for the 2021 to 2022 academic year.
The calendar provides a summary of key actions and dates about academy funding, finance and trust compliance with their funding agreement.
4. Information: consultation launch: fair school funding for all: completing our reforms of the National Funding Formula
The Department for Education has launched the Fair school funding for all: completing our reforms of the National Funding Formula consultation. This seeks views on how to simplify the current funding process and ensure all schools are funded on a single, fair, and consistent basis.
The introduction of the schools National Funding Formula (NFF) in 2018 to 2019 was a major step forward from the postcode lottery of the previous funding system. Our ambition is now to complete those reforms, so that every school’s final funding allocation is determined by the same, national formula, and is no longer subject to further adjustment by local authorities.
The consultation presents our proposals for how such an NFF, that is directly applied to schools’ budgets, should operate. It also sets out the next steps to ensure a smooth transition towards this goal.
This is the first stage of the consultation on these reforms to the NFF, and it will be open for responses until 30 September.
5. Information: 16 to 19 study programmes guidance for 2021 to 2022
We have published the 16 to 19 study programme guidance for the 2021 to 2022 academic year.
All students funded through the 16 to 19 funding methodology must be enrolled on a study programme, a T Level Transition Programme or T Level programme, which typically combines qualifications and other activities, and is tailored to each student’s prior attainment and career goals. T Level is not in the scope of this guidance because a T Level is a full study programme in itself with a number of components that have to be completed or achieved in order for the T Level to be awarded.
The study programme guidance is designed to help providers understand their obligations and duties in relation to the provision of 16 to 19 study programmes in their institutions. This year’s guidance includes new information relating to education recovery and remote learning, as a result of COVID-19.
We continue to welcome your feedback on how to make this guidance more useful – please email us with your comments and suggestions at Post16.Level3AndBelowReview@education.gov.uk.
6. Information: interactive post-16 school census tool
We have updated our post-16 interactive tool to support the return of accurate post-16 school census data. Some institutions risk not getting the funding they should because of inaccurate data.
The tool will help you understand:
- how your data is used to calculate your post-16 funding
- how common data errors affect your funding
Updated worksheets for 2021 to 2022:
- Census data fields: updated with the new name for GCSE prior attainment fields (‘maths/English GCSE prior attainment year group’ fields are now ‘maths/English GCSE prior attainment year 11’)
- Data usage map: updated to include T Level occupational specialism codes, and the use of postcode data for discretionary bursary
- Programme cost weighting tab: updated to include information on T Level occupational specialism codes
- T Levels tab: also updated to include information on T Level occupational specialism codes; the T Levels examples include a new example
- Condition of funding tab: updated with additional information on completing the highest prior attainment field for students who resit GCSEs; also updated to reflect new requirements on traineeship students
Those responsible for preparing and submitting the autumn school census return will find it useful.
A suite of ESFA funding reports will be available in COLLECT when the autumn census opens in October. They will show you how your data looks in relation to our post-16 funding calculations. We strongly advise institutions to use these reports to help quality assure census returns.
The tool is in an Excel workbook, please make sure that macros are enabled so that the workbook functions properly.
If you have any questions, please use our online enquiry form.
7. Information: changes to the 16 to 19 tuition fund in academic year 2021 to 2022
We are broadening the eligibility for the 16 to 19 tuition fund to include economic disadvantage in addition to low prior attainment in academic year 2021 to 2022.
Including these students allows providers to offer tuition to all disadvantaged students who have been impacted by the pandemic, while still maintaining focus on low prior attainment.
We are also making some adjustments to the scheme based on feedback from providers to:
- allow some flexibility in the number of students included in a small group for the purposes of the fund
- strengthen accountability of the fund
We will publish further details on GOV.UK in due course.
8. Information: the National Careers Service results day webinars for parents/carers
The National Careers Service is delivering a series of webinars for parents and carers whose children are receiving results this August. We recognise that it has been a challenging year for students and want to equip parents and carers with advice to support their children on the day. Click the links below to sign up to one of the webinars and get:
- tips on how your child can prepare for results day
- advice about their options
- advice about leaving education and exploring careers
- signposting to useful sources
- an opportunity for Q&A
8.1 Dates
9. Information: Gender Balance in Computing (GBIC) research programme
The Gender Balance in Computing (GBIC) research programme is an amazing opportunity to find out what works to encourage girls to develop an interest in computing during their primary and secondary school years and increase the number of young women who choose to study Computer Science at GCSE and A level.
The projects available are:
9.1 Non-formal learning (Years 3–6) — starts October 2021
In this project, schools will run an extra-curricular Code Club for 12 weeks for Key Stage 2 pupils. The project will explore the impact of strengthening the links between non-formal learning and the skills required to study GCSE Computer Science.
9.2 Teaching approach (Year 8) — starts October 2021
The project is based on the idea that current approaches to teaching computing may be less appealing to girls. Some of the schools involved in this project will be trained in structured, collaborative approaches to teaching computing and will use this pedagogy for 12 weeks of computing lessons. They will also receive 12 hours of teaching materials.
9.3 Relevance (Year 8) — starts January 2022
Research suggests that girls value the opportunity to use computing in real-world applications. In this project, some schools will use new resources developed by Apps for Good to solve real-world problems through technology while studying the computing curriculum.
More than 500 schools are already taking part in projects, and we would love you to join!