Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 17 March 2021

Published 17 March 2021

This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2022

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Read the latest editions of ESFA Update for the latest news and information.

Applies to England

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. Action: the coronavirus (COVID-19) workforce fund for schools and colleges online form is now live

The coronavirus (COVID-19) workforce fund for schools and colleges online form went live on 10 March 2021. 

The deadline to submit your claim is 23:59 on 31 March 2021. 

We’ve published guidance to help you complete the form. 

3. Action: consultation on business rates

The Department for Education has launched a public consultation on a proposal to centralise the payment of national non-domestic rates (NNDR), more commonly known as business rates, for state-funded 5 to 16 schools.

We are seeking views on the payment of schools’ business rates directly to billing authorities on behalf of schools and a single reconciliation payment to billing authorities to allow for adjustments before the end of the financial year.

We welcome views from state-funded schools, including academies and local authority maintained schools, local authorities, billing authorities and any other stakeholders. The consultation closes on 5 May 2021.

4. Reminder: submit your school resource management self-assessment tool checklist

This is a reminder that the online form for the school resource management self-assessment tool is now open for academy trusts to complete and return their checklist by Thursday 15 April 2021.

Please do not use your DfE sign-in or IDAMS registration details. They will not work with this form.

If you have used this type of online form before (for example, for the academies accounts submission cover sheet) you can log in using the same details.

You can also “sign up” to create a new password for the checklist return.

All academy trusts with open academies as at 31 December 2020 must submit the checklist return.

5. Information: Advanced Maths Support Programme continues until July 2022

Mathematics Education Innovation (MEI) is pleased to announce that the Department for Education has agreed to extend funding for the Advanced Maths Support Programme for a further 15 months, until 31 July 2022.

This means that the AMSP will continue to provide support for schools and colleges, increasing opportunities for students to achieve valuable qualifications in AS/A level mathematics, AS/A level further mathematics and core maths.

There is a great deal of work to do to enable students to recover the learning they have lost due to the pandemic. The AMSP will be offering six targeted support packages, in addition to the high quality support already on offer, to help this learning recovery. The packages will focus on:

1. Motivating students’ interest and maintaining continuity of mathematical learning at Key Stage 4
2. Supporting students’ transition to level 3 study
3. AS/A level mathematics
4. AS/A level further mathematics
5. Core Maths
6. Supporting students’ transition to degree study

Charlie Stripp, MEI’s Chief Executive and Director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) said:

The AMSP has been doing excellent work to support the teaching and learning of Key Stage 4 and post-16 mathematics throughout the COVID crisis. It’s great news that we can now be sure the AMSP will be in place to the end of next academic year.

The ability to understand and use maths is crucial for both individual and national success. We must do all we can to help young people whose education has been disrupted by the COVID crisis to recover the learning they have lost.