Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 29 March 2023

Published 29 March 2023

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-29-march-2023/esfa-update-academies-29-march-2023

1. Information: update to the high needs funding 2023 to 2024 operational guidance

We have updated the high needs funding: 2023 to 2024 operational guidance.

The changes to the guidance are:

  • update on the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan
  • links to the 2023 School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations
  • updated 16 to 19 national funding rate
  • 2022 to 2023 (academic year) in-year growth criteria (element 1 and element 2) for post 16 education
  • additional information and guidance references about high needs place and dedicated schools grant deductions for new special and alternative provision free schools

The guidance provides a summary of key dates and actions for local authorities and educational providers, including how the 2023 to 2024 financial and academic year high needs funding system should operate for all types of educational provision. As this guidance is applicable to schools and colleges now, it should be considered with immediate effect.

2. Information: 2023 to 2024 student financial support scheme guides published

The student financial support scheme guides set out the funding rules for the different schemes. They are reviewed and updated each year and we have recently published the guides for the 2023 to 2024 academic year for:

We ask that institutions review the updated guides and remind themselves of the funding rules which apply to each scheme to ensure they understand them, and their processes reflect them, including audit requirements.

The free meals in further education guide explains that the end date for transitional protections has now been extended further until March 2025. This is when we expect Universal Credit roll-out to be complete for most cohorts.

For the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund, institutions must remember that they should not award any student a fixed or flat rate of funding without assessing the actual needs the student has. The guide includes a checklist institutions can use when administering the bursary fund.

3. Information: payment date change

In January, we explained by letter and update article that we’re changing the payment date for 4 of our funding streams:

  • procured adult education budget including national skills fund
  • procured 19 to 24 traineeships
  • contract funded advanced learner loans bursary
  • 16 to 18 traineeships

This is a reminder that the April payment for these funding streams will be in your bank account on 26 April 2023, the 16th working day of the month. We uploaded a contract variation to Manage your Education and Skills in February 2023 to reflect this change.

If you have any queries relating to this, please contact the enquiry service.

4. Information: capital funding to improve the condition of schools 2023 to 2024

The department is allocating £1.8 billion in capital funding for financial year 2023 to 2024 to improve the condition of the school estate so that schools are safe and high-quality educational environments for children and young people to learn.

On 28 March, the department published the provisional School Condition Allocation (SCA) amounts for financial year 2023 to 2024 for eligible bodies responsible for schools. We also published Devolved Formula Capital (DFC) amounts for individual schools to spend on local capital priorities. Allocation amounts, spend guidance and the methodology used to calculate eligibility and allocations are all available on GOV.UK.

Final SCA and DFC allocations will be published later in the spring, based on information about schools and their responsible bodies at the start of April 2023, and may differ from provisional allocations in some cases.

As part of this funding, we also expect the outcome of Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) bids for 2023 to 2024 to be set out later in May 2023.

5. Information: Buying for Schools summer webinar schedule now live – book your place

Are you responsible for buying goods and services for your school? The Schools Commercial Team (SCT) within the Department for Education lead on the Buying for Schools programme; delivering services to support schools to buy goods and services.

The team are hosting free webinars on how using our approved frameworks could save you time and help your school get value for money. Our summer programme will begin on 25 April with the webinars listed below. Click on the links to find out more and book your place:

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.

6. Information: Get help buying for schools at the Schools and Academies Show, 17 May

The Schools and Academies Show takes place on Wednesday 17 May at London Excel.

The DfE Schools Commercial Team will be hosting a session at the show on how the Get help buying for schools service can help your school buy goods and services efficiently and compliantly. Join us at 10am in the Business and Finance theatre and find out for yourself.

Register now. Registration is free for schools, multi-academy trusts and the wider public sector.

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