ESFA Update academies: 9 November 2022
Published 9 November 2022
Applies to England
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1. Action: split sites funding: changes to how this is funded
From 2024 to 2025, DfE is planning to change how split sites funding is determined. We will be implementing a split sites factor within the schools National Funding Formula (NFF) with a national eligibility criteria, replacing the current local authority-led approach.
We have sent local authorities the eligibility criteria and we would encourage any split site schools to contact their local authority as soon as possible to discuss whether they will be eligible for funding through the NFF from 2024 to 2025. Local authorities will need to complete and return their split sites data collection to us in January 2023.
This follows proposals in our most recent consultation (Implementing the direct national funding formula – government consultation) on introducing a national split sites formula from 2024 to 2025 as part of our transition to a direct NFF. The final design of the formula remains subject to the outcome of the consultation.
2. Reminder: autumn schools census 2022 closed 2 November
The 2022 autumn school census date was Thursday, 6 October. The deadline for approved submissions was Wednesday, 2 November. Please note that your return must be at the COLLECT status of ‘approved’ to enable us to process it. If you haven’t already done so, please ‘submit’ your return.
The school census data will be used to finalise funding allocations. It is important that you run and check your reports carefully to ensure the data submitted is correct. Submitting inaccurate data, risks your funding allocation being lower than it should.
For academies with sixth forms, our post-16 interactive census tool will help you understand how your data is used to calculate your 16 to 19 funding, along with the post 16 funding reports in COLLECT.
For the 2022 to 2023 academic year, the school census will be collecting data about all tuition provided through the national tutoring programme (NTP).
Full guidance to help with completing the census is available on GOV.UK.
If you have any queries about the school census, please use our service request form.
3. Information: meet us at the Schools and Academies Show, Birmingham - 17 November
Hear from David Withey, Chief Executive ESFA and John Edwards, Director General, Regions Group DfE.
Visit our stand and speak with colleagues from ESFA and DfE.
Teams include, teacher wellbeing and workload, schools commercial, better financial reporting, managing school estates and teaching vacancies. If you are from a school considering becoming an academy colleagues will be on hand to answer your questions.
Join one of our short sessions including:
- hiring supply teachers and agency workers for your schools
- how to automate – trust account returns and draft financial statements
- teaching vacancies – helping put money back into the classroom
- buying energy for your school
- school net capacity assessments
- how to build pupils’ resilience to extremism
Take a look at the DfE theatre full programme
4. Information: one school’s experience of using the Get help buying for schools service
DfE’s Get help buying for schools service is available to support you with buying goods and services for your school.
Kieren Done is a School Business Manager at St Ambrose College, a grammar school in Altrincham, Manchester with around 1000 pupils.
Kieren recently used the Get help buying for schools service to buy audit services for his school.
In our latest Buying for Schools blog post, Kieren shares his experience of using Get help buying for schools and how it could help you with your buying too.
5. Information: buying liquid fuels for your school
Three new DfE-approved frameworks are now available on Find a Framework:
If you need support with buying liquid fuels for your school, contact the Get help buying for schools service.
6. Information: join these webinars on approved frameworks and see how you could save money for your school
Are you responsible for buying goods and services for your school? The Schools Commercial Team (SCT) within the Department for Education is leading 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 autumn programme will start up again mid-November with the webinars listed below.
Click on the links to find out more and book your place:
- how the Get help buying for schools service can support your school buying – 15 November
- The Risk Protection Arrangement - an alternative to commercial insurance – 15 November
- buying ICT for your school – 22 November
- buying professional services for your school – 23 November
- hiring supply teachers and agency workers for your school – 23 November
You can find the full programme of webinars for the remainder of the autumn term on the Autumn 2022 webinar page. Visit the page to find out more and book your place.
7. Information: update on the release of Provider Data Self-Assessment Toolkit (PDSAT) online
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are no longer able to release Provider Data Self-Assessment Toolkit (PDSAT) online, as initially intended at the end of November. Our transformation plan to stagger the release in 2 phases to assist providers with R04 obligations was dependent on external, third-party, penetration testing being completed to a strict deadline.
We are now aiming to release PDSAT online as a complete product in a single phase, including the sampler, in mid/late December, and will continue to provide updates over the coming weeks.
Providers who do have R04 obligations should maintain their focus on the quality and accuracy of their data returns in line with their normal practices.
This is the final week that pre-registration for PDSAT online will be available, registrations closes as planned on Friday 11 November.
Providers can pre-register by completing this form click here and non-providers can pre-register by completing this form click here.
All pre-registrations will be reviewed by ESFA. Registrants will receive notifications of acceptance or rejection once ESFA have reviewed, post the closure of the pre-registration phase on Friday.
Anyone that does not pre-register, or who is rejected at the pre-registration stage will still be able to register a request for their own login at any time once PDSAT online goes live.