ESFA Update academies: 19 October 2022
Published 19 October 2022
Applies to England
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1. Action: coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition fund 2022 to 2023 claim form now live
The coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition fund 2022 to 2023 opt in/out digital form is now live.
The deadline for your submission is 11.59pm on 21 October 2022.
We’ve published guidance to access and help you complete the form.
More information is available on the coronavirus (COVID-19) 16 to 19 tuition fund guidance 2022 to 2023 on GOV.UK.
2. Action: submit your 16 to 19 tuition fund recovery form
As a condition of opting into the 16 to 19 tuition fund, institutions are required to inform ESFA of any unspent funding at the end of the 2021 to 2022 academic year so it can be recovered.
On the 10 October, we issued a digital form to all institutions in receipt of the tuition fund, asking for details of the amount spent in either the 2020 to 2021 or 2021 to 2022 academic years.
You can access and find guidance on how to complete the form on GOV.UK.
The deadline to submit this form is 6:00pm on 24 October 2022. If the form hasn’t been returned by this time, we will assume there was zero tuition fund spent and the entire allocation for both years could be recovered.
3. Information: academies accounts return 2021/22 online form now open
The academies accounts return online form is now live for users to complete and submit their trust’s return by the 19 January 2023 deadline.
The accounts return can only be submitted by the trust’s external auditor approver. Please check that the external auditor details are correct as soon as possible, this is to ensure they have access to the return and avoid delays in submitting. For more information, see our guidance.
If you have difficulties accessing the form please read the IDAMS registration guidance. Your login details will be the same ones as previously used for the budget forecast returns earlier in the year.
4. Information: RPA Members - book your place on this Regulatory Mock Trial
The Department for Education, in conjunction with Willis Towers Watson, has developed a bespoke training seminar, ‘The Regulatory Mock Trial’.
The 3-hour workshop has been designed to assist governors, trustees, directors, and members of Senior Leadership Teams to understand the challenges they face in implementing compliant health and safety management systems, enhance the prospects of avoiding enforcement action and improve the school’s defensive capabilities where a prosecution is pursued.
Book your place now:
5. Information: RPA Members - book your place on the RPA construction, design and management webinar
The Department for Education, in conjunction with Willis Towers Watson, are hosting a webinar on:
- the management of any construction projects to ensure legal compliance with the CDM Regulations and other associated legislation
- the cover provided by the RPA for existing structures and contract works during the works period and changes required to any contractual joint name’s insurance requirements
Book your place now:
6. Information: cancellation of academies chart of accounts and automation webinars
The chart of accounts and automation team are cancelling the following webinars on the following dates:
- Thursday 20 October
- Thursday 17 November
You can chat to the team about the academies chart of accounts and automation at the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham on Thursday 17 November, where they will be in the DfE village all day.
7. Information: high needs place change process for 2023 to 2024 now open
The high needs place change notification process for 2023 to 2024 is now open until 18 November 2022. Schools and colleges should engage in discussions with local authorities about their high needs places for academic year 2023 to 2024.
We have published guidance on the high needs place change process and the spring 2022 census data for high needs pupil numbers in special academies and free schools, and the place numbers for 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. You can use this to inform local discussion about commissioning arrangements for 2023 to 2024.
8. Information: our guide to submitting your audited financial statements for 2021 to 2022
We’ve published our guide to submitting your audited financial statements for 2021 to 2022. You should read the guide before completing the online form and uploading your documents.
You must upload your audited financial statements, auditor’s management letter and your annual summary internal scrutiny report within the accounts’ submission coversheet.
All academy trusts that had a signed funding agreement and had an open academy at any point during the accounting period to 31 August 2022, must submit audited accounts (annual report, financial statements, auditor’s management letter and annual summary internal scrutiny report) to ESFA. This includes free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges (UTCs). The deadline for submitting accounts is 31 December 2022.
9. Information: ESFA is proud to support Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2022
ESFA is proud to support this year’s Charity Fraud Awareness Week which runs from 17 to 21 October 2022.
Now in its seventh year, Charity Fraud Awareness Week is an award-winning campaign, run by a partnership of charities, regulators, representatives, umbrella bodies and other not-for-profit stakeholders, across the world.
Its aim is to bring together the third sector to share knowledge, expertise, and good practice in fraud prevention, at a time when many in the sector continue to remain susceptible to fraud and cybercrime.
For more information on how you can get involved including access to free events visit preventcharityfraud.org.uk and/or join the conversation at: #StopCharityFraud
10. Information: Condition Improvement Fund 2023 to 2024 application round open
The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) 2023 to 2024 application round opened to eligible schools and colleges on Thursday 13 October. Schools and colleges have until midday on Wednesday 7 December to submit their applications.
You can read about the eligibility criteria and how to apply on the Condition Improvement Fund page.
Information: industry placements capacity and delivery fund 2023 to 2024 publishedWe have published the capacity and delivery fund guidance for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. The guidance sets out the arrangements for providers delivering industry placements through the capacity and delivery fund and the monitoring return requirements.
The 2023 to 2024 academic year is the final year of funding and will only be allocated to existing CDF providers with either an Ofsted ‘requires improvement’, ‘inadequate’ rating and those who had not yet been inspected by 29 July 2022. The funding rate is £160 per qualifying student for both level 2 and level 3 qualifying students.
From September 2024, all providers registered to offer T Levels will receive a funding allocation that includes funding to support the provision of an industry placement for every student.
11. Information: capacity and delivery fund (CDF) monitoring return for December now available
The CDF monitoring form is now available for providers in receipt of a CDF allocation to complete and submit.
The monitoring return will focus on your delivery in the 2021 to 2022 academic year, and how funding has been spent, as well as how you are progressing in the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
The monitoring returns are mandatory and must be submitted as a condition of receiving a CDF allocation. Monitoring returns provide us with information on the progress being made in building capacity and capability to deliver high quality industry placements as we scale up the delivery of T Levels. They also provide assurance that the funding is being used for the purpose intended.
To access the December 2022 CDF monitoring form, you must sign into your DfE sign in account. Further information about DfE Sign-in and how to access the monitoring form is available in the CDF guidance for 2022 to 2023 academic year.
The deadline to complete the monitoring return is by 5pm on Friday 2 December 2022.
12. Information: latest update to the provider data self-assessment toolkit (PDSAT)
Earlier this month, we announced that for the 2022 to 2023 funding year, we will be releasing an online version of PDSAT. We expect this to be available in November 2022.
We have published the first PDSAT online update with more information on GOV.UK.
This includes details for providers, in the first instance, who wish to pre-register in advance of the website release. This will ensure access to PDSAT online as soon as it is made available.
We are focussing pre-registration for providers as our initial priority. Opportunities for non-providers (auditors, consultants, MCA’s etc) will follow in the coming weeks.
Pre-registration is not a requirement for accessing PDSAT online. Providers that do not pre-register will be able to register a request for their own login at any time once PDSAT online goes live unless a user from the same organisation has already registered.
Registering on the PDSAT online website includes a process whereby ESFA will review registrations prior to approval. Given the anticipated volume of registrations upon release there may be a delay to accessing PDSAT online if you choose to wait.