ESFA Update local authorities: 4 March 2020
Published 4 March 2020
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2020
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-4-march-2020/esfa-update-local-authorities-4-march-2020
1. Information: helpline launched to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education
The Department for Education has launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
- phone: 0800 046 8687
- email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
The opening hours are 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday).
The latest guidance for education settings is available on GOV.UK.
2. Action: 2019 to 2020 Advanced Learner Loans performance management point 3
The first time request form for Advanced Learner Loans is now available on GOV.UK.
Completed request forms must be sent to AllFacility.REQUESTS@education.gov.uk before 5pm on Monday 16 March 2020.
For further information, please refer to the Advanced Learner Loans funding rules 2019 to 2020.
3. Information: teachers’ pay grant and teachers’ pension employer contribution grant updates
The Department for Education (DfE) has updated the teachers’ pay grant and teachers’ pension employer contribution grant methodology pages to confirm the rates that will be used to calculate school and local authority allocations for the 5 month period from April 2020 to August 2020. These rates have been calculated as five sevenths of the 7 month rates for September 2019 to March 2020.
In March we will publish school and local authority-level grant allocations for this period, ahead of payments in April for local authority maintained schools and May for academies.
4. Information: local authorities planning calendar
We’ve published the local authorities planning calendar. This includes key dates for payments, publications, and local authority actions in the 2020 to 2021 financial year.
5. Information: adult education budget (AEB) devolution update – Sheffield City Region
Subject to Sheffield City Region being ready and the statutory test being met, they will take on devolved AEB responsibilities from the academic year 2021 to 2022. We will continue to work to support the authority in their preparations.
We have updated the AEB devolution guidance on GOV.UK. Further information on Sheffield City Region can be found on their website.
6. Information: final qualification achievement rates (QAR) for 2018 to 2019
We will publish your final QAR 2018 to 2019 data on Thursday 26 March. All the data will be available through the View Your Education Data portal.
The QAR webpage provide details about this data release and accessing the dashboard. To access the data, please ensure you have the correct IDAMS user access. Please see the IDAMS user guides for creating access or checking your user permissions.
We will publish the National Achievement Rate Tables for 2018 to 2019 on Thursday 26 March at 9:30am.
If you have any questions, please use our online enquiry form.
7. Information: earnings adjustment statement (EAS)
We have made some improvements to our earnings adjustment statement pages. We haven’t changed the guidance. We have collated the information so you can understand what the EAS is, how to submit your file, payment information and deadlines for submissions.
We will publish guidance for academic year 2020 to 2021 in the summer, before the start of the new academic year.
8. Information: registration for the WorldSkills UK skills competitions
Registration for WorldSkills UK (WSUK) skills competitions opened on Monday and is open until Thursday 2 April 2020. The UK-wide skills competitions attract approximately 3,500 students and apprentices, all competing in any of the 70 available skills, and those that excel may go on to form Team UK to represent their country at the ‘Skills Olympics’ in Lyon in 2023.
Beyond the significant development of competitors, there are also associated benefits for providers. Registering for and taking part in WSUK skills competitions is free and, the apprenticeship levy can be used to support apprentices taking part.
Entering students for competitions can also demonstrate compliance to common Ofsted inspection standards, by using competition activity to deliver high quality training and assessments and demonstrating excellence in behaviours and attitudes.
If you would like to know more you can watch this short film, visit the skills section of the WSUK website, or email us.
9. Information: new analysis suggests potential interventions to improve educational attainment of children and young people who have had a social worker
What Works for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC) and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) have released the findings from a large scale re-analysis of the EEF’s database of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) looking at effects on children and young people who have had a social worker.
This new research identifies ten projects that show ‘Signs of Potential’ - interventions that appear to have larger positive impacts for children and young people who have had a social worker than for their peers.
The Department for Education’s Children in Need review (June 2019) found that children and young people who have been in contact with social care services have poorer educational outcomes than their peers at every stage. Last year, the final publication of the review identified a gap in the evidence of what works in supporting children who have needed a social worker and committed to continue to build this evidence.
You can read the summary of findings and visit What Works for Children’s Social Care for further resources.
10. Information: support for your advanced mathematics provision
Is your school engaging with the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP)?
The AMSP is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) to help schools and colleges increase participation in core maths and AS/A level mathematics and further mathematics. The programme provides local support with planning your provision of these qualifications, together with free resources and an extensive range of professional development. If you are unable to offer AS/A level further mathematics, the AMSP can arrange tuition. Additional support is available in areas of low social mobility.
A key focus of the programme is to raise awareness and uptake of core maths, a level 3 qualification designed for students who have achieved a grade 4 or above in GCSE mathematics but do not wish to study AS/A level mathematics.
The AMSP also provides professional development for teachers of GCSE mathematics, and enrichment activities to inspire students to choose to study mathematics beyond GCSE.
You can subscribe to receive updates from the AMSP.
11. Your feedback: we would welcome your feedback on a new online form to report extremism concerns
As part of our work to help the education sector raise any matters or concerns that arise on extremism, we would like to speak to the sector to receive their feedback on a new online form.
DfE offer a service for anyone to report a concern relating to extremism within an educational environment using email or phone. We are currently working on an online form as an additional anonymous method to use the service. To ensure that the form is intuitive and easy to use, we’re looking for some volunteers to help us with our research. The research session will consist of you going through a test version of the form.
If you wish to take part in the research, where we will spend 30 to 45 minutes speaking to you on a 1 to 1 basis, either remotely using Skype or during a site visit, please email DataScience.USERRESEARCH@education.gov.uk by Friday 6 March 2020.