ESFA Update academies: 28 June 2023
Published 28 June 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-28-june-2023/esfa-update-academies-28-june-2023
1. Action: register now to deliver T Levels for the first time in the 2025 to 2026 academic year
The registration portal opened earlier this year to allow providers to register to deliver T Levels for the first time in the 2025 to 2026 academic year and closes at midnight on the 22 March 2024.
We encourage providers to register before 28 July 2023 to access the full implementation planning support on offer, up-front revenue and specialist equipment funding, and to be considered for any future buildings and facilities improvement grant funding that may be available to support delivery in 2025.
Providers will require a DfE sign-in account to register and only providers not already signed-up to deliver T Levels should apply.
The registration portal and supporting guidance can be accessed on GOV.UK.
2. Action: sign-up for updates and actions from the Transforming Public Procurement (TPP) programme
The Transforming Public Procurement (TPP) programme will replace the current Public Contract Regulations 2015, aiming to improve how public procurement is regulated, and will introduce changes to the way public sector organisations buy goods and services.
All the information schools and MATs need can be found on GOV.UK including guidance documents to help with planning and preparation, recent webinars and details of the learning and development package available.
We would encourage anyone in a procurement or purchasing role to sign up to the regular TPP updates using this form to ensure you are up to date with all of the relevant information.
3. Information: universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) allocations for academic years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024
An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals has been agreed and we can confirm that this will be increased from £2.41 to £2.53 from the start of the 2023 to 2024 academic year. We will publish the final allocations for 2022 to 2023, and the provisional allocations for 2023 to 2024 shortly.
We have scheduled allocations to be paid on 30 June 2023 for local authorities, and 10 July 2023 for academies. These will include 2 separate payments: a final allocation for 2022 to 2023 at the previous rate of £2.41, and a provisional allocation for 2023 to 2024 based on £2.53.
4. Information: pupil premium allocations for the 2023 to 2024 financial year
We’ve published the June update of the pupil premium grant allocations for the 2023 to 2024 financial year.
Note that the school level pupil premium allocations published on GOV.UK are only the deprivation FSM6 element of the allocations and do not include the pupils listed below, as this data is suppressed due to data protection guidelines. This is the case every year.
- looked after children (LAC), including post-LAC
- pupils recorded on the alternative provision (AP) census as receiving free school meals
- service children
- general hospital school pupils
Schools can confirm all the pupils included in the ESFA allocation and which element of funding they attract via the Get Information About Pupils (GIAP) site. GIAP can be accessed via DfE Sign-in .
You can read more about how to access the pupil premium data within GIAP on the pupil premium grant allocations page.
5. Information: national professional qualification (NPQ) targeted support funding 2022 to 2023 grant allocations
We’ve published the national professional qualification (NPQ) targeted support funding 2022 to 2023 grant allocations for participants who started in the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
We’ve also updated the ‘eligibility’ section of the national professional qualification (NPQ) targeted support funding: conditions of grant for the 2022 to 2023 academic year, alongside these.
We will pay the 2022 to 2023 allocations to local authority maintained schools in June 2023 and to academies in July 2023. We will make a further payment to independent special schools from July 2023 onwards.
A sweep up payment will be made in autumn 2023, to ensure all eligible schools and organisations not captured in the summer 2023 payment window are paid in year.
If you think your school or organisation meets the eligibility criteria but has not yet received a payment as indicated on the published grant allocations, please contact your training provider to check that confirmation of training engagement has been submitted to the department.
If you don’t have a training provider or have any queries, please contact continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk.
You can read further information on targeted support funding and more information on NPQs currently available can be viewed in our course prospectus.
6. Information: interactive post-16 census tool 2023 to 2024 now available
We’ve updated our post-16 interactive tool to support you with returning 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
We’ve noted that providers have had particular issues recording T Level data correctly, including:
- recording programmes that only last for 1 year, rather than 2
- recording planned hours that fall below the minimum for T Level funding
The tool has information on how we use T Level data, and how incorrect data will affect funding. There is also specific information on recording T Level data on GOV.UK.
Business managers and staff responsible for preparing and submitting the autumn school census return will find this 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 a Microsoft 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: COVID-19 recovery premium grant 2022 to 2023, June 2023 allocations
We’ve published the June 2023 allocations for the recovery premium grant for the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
8. Information: crime, fire safety and Health & Safety workshops for RPA members
Willis Towers Watson is providing risk management support for all RPA members through audit, guidance and advice. As part of the risk management support, RPA members are invited to a workshop covering:
- overview of the crime, fire safety and health & safety resilience programme
- information/advice on maintaining internal fire doors and fire compartmentation
Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis:
9. Information: Buying for Schools still have some great webinars running – book your place now
If you buy goods and services for your school or trust, come and join one of our free webinars.
You can find the full programme of webinars for the summer term on the Summer 2023 webinar page. Visit the page to find out more and book your place.
Webinars include:
- Leasing advisory services – 4 July
- Printers, copiers and digital solutions – 4 July
- Corporate software, including HR, MIS and payroll – 4 July
- Risk protection arrangement, an alternative to commercial insurance – 13 July
- Leasing and loan finance – 13 July
Visit this page to find out more and book your place.
10. Information: if you are looking to buy IT hardware for your school or trust, join this webinar on 6 July
DfE is encouraging schools and MATs, who are planning their ICT hardware purchases for the next academic year and beyond, to consider joining the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) IT Hardware Aggregation.
Your order could be large or small, one laptop or a dozen, you can still join this aggregation and save money.
Sign up for our webinar for more information and details of how to join the aggregation.
11. Information: book a 1:1 chat to discuss your school’s buying needs – spaces available 11 July
The Schools Commercial Team are offering the opportunity for a free, virtual 1:1 conversation with a member of the team to see how we can support you.
You can speak to us about anything you like to help you make informed buying choices for your school.
There is no pressure or obligation to take any of our recommendations forward following the conversation.