Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 4 October 2023

Published 4 October 2023

Applies to England

1. Action: 16 to 19 Tuition Fund 2023 to 2024 digital form

The 16 to 19 Tuition Fund 2023 to 2024 opt in/out digital form second window is now live. 

The deadline for your submission is 11:59pm on 20 October 2023.

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

You can read more on the 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 webpage.

2. Reminder: review hours for 16 to 19 qualifications and non-qualifications delivery before submitting your final ILR data return

We have identified some areas in advance of the R14 ILR return that need reviewing where we can see numerous providers with potential errors in their data. To help you reduce your data errors at R14 and the chance of being selected for audit, please use the post-16 monitoring reports dashboard to review these reports:

• FRM43 - 16 to 19 study programme students on qualifications with no planned learning hours (PLH)

• FRM56 - 16 to 19 study programmes with PLH but no regulated qualifications

• FRM69 - Proportion of planned employment, enrichment and pastoral (EEP) hours is greater than or equal to 50% of total planned hours and student is not identified as requiring additional learning support.

You must ensure your PLH and EEP accurately reflect the amount of qualifications and non-qualifications activity being delivered in the current academic year. The PLH field must reflect the total planned timetabled hours spent on DfE approved qualifications only. A value of zero PLH is only returned if the learner is only participating in employability, enrichment and pastoral activities during the year.

3. Reminder: submit your 2022 to 2023 16 to 19 Tuition Fund spend and tell us how you have used your additional hours

You will need to submit a digital form if your organisation either received 16 to 19 tuition fund for the academic year 2022 to 2023 and/or received the additional hours baseline data report, which was based on returns your institution made in academic year 2020 to 2021. We supplied the additional hours baseline data report to you in June 2022.

Please note that failure to submit a report on 16 to 19 tuition fund spend will result in recovery of 100% of your academic year 2022 to 2023 tuition funding.

We have produced a digital form so you can tell us:

• how much tuition fund you have spent in the 2022 to 2023 academic year
• what your institution used additional hours for and account for how you delivered the expected average increases in hours

You will need to submit the form as soon as you can, and no later than 11:59pm on 13 October 2023.

The digital form can be accessed online.

Guidance on how to complete the form can be found on GOV.UK.

4. Information: the academies land and building collection (LBCT) tool form is now live, and LBCT Power hour session.

The online form for the academies land and buildings collection tool (LBCT) is now live. The deadline for submission is Tuesday 7 November 2023.

If you would like to find out more about the Land and buildings return, we are hosting a power-hour session on 5 October. For details on how to register for the event, please see our LBCT guidance), where you can view the summary guidance, LBCT workbook, link to the online form and details on how to join the power hour session. 

If your academy trust has any church owned land, contact your local diocese to arrange sign-off arrangements.

4.1 LBCT login details

Your login details will be the same as those used for the budget forecast return and accounts return. If you are struggling to access the form or it’s your first time completing it, please read the registration guidance.

You can find more information about how we use sector financial data and a comprehensive overview of the different financial returns.

5. Information: Cambridge school business professional (SBP) roundtable – spaces available

There are spaces available at our Cambridge roundtable.

If you would like to join other SBPs from across the region to network, share your procurement issues and priorities, and find out more about the free procurement support available from the DfE, book your place now:

Cambridge - Tuesday 17 October, 12:30 – 16:00

6. Information: join these webinars on approved frameworks and see how you could save money for your school

Are you a school business professional who buys goods and services for your school?

The Schools Commercial Team host regular webinars on how using DfE approved frameworks could help your school get value for money. Click on the links to find out more and book your place:

• Buying education management systems for your school
• The Risk Protection Arrangement - an alternative to commercial insurance
• Buying legal services for your school
• How the Get help buying for schools service can support your school buying
• Buying cyber security for your school
• Buying ICT for your school

You can find the full programme of webinars for the autumn term on the Autumn 2023 webinar page. Visit the page to find out more and book your place.

7. Information: book a 1:1 chat to discuss your school’s buying needs – spaces available on Thursday 12 October

The Schools Commercial Team is offering the opportunity for a free, virtual 1:1 conversation with a member of the team to see how they can support you.

You can speak about anything you like to help you make informed buying choices for your school.

There is no pressure or obligation to take any recommendations forward following the conversation.

Book your 1:1 conversation now.

8. Your feedback: can you help provide feedback on the school resource self-assessment checklist (SRMSAC)?

Earlier this year we invited you to tell us how the SRMSAC could better meet your needs.

We now need SRMSAC users to test the improvements we’re developing for 2023-24 by taking part in a short usability testing session with a researcher, and to determine future need and use from 2024-25 onwards.  Sessions are confidential and your comments will be anonymised in any reports.

To find out more, read the Participant Information Sheet.

To sign up, read the Participant Information Sheet and complete the Consent Form.  A user researcher will then contact you to book a convenient session.  Sessions last no longer than an hour and are running throughout September and October.

Getting involved will help us understand your needs and improve our services to you.

If you have any questions, please contact us.