Guidance

Mainstream schools additional grant 2023 to 2024: conditions of grant for local authorities

Updated 24 April 2024

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The Secretary of State for Education is providing £1.45 billion of funding to mainstream schools in England through the mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG).

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will pay the MSAG funds to local authorities for maintained schools and directly to academies on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education. A first payment for 2023 to 2024 will be made to local authorities on 28 April 2023, with a second payment in October 2023. The first payment to academies will be made in May 2023, with the second payment in November 2023.

The following terms and conditions apply to the MSAG for the financial year beginning 1 April 2023.

The MSAG rates and eligibility for 2023 to 2024 are published in the methodology document.

MSAG funding will be incorporated into core budget allocations for 2024 to 2025 by being rolled into the schools national funding formula (NFF).

2. Allocation and payment to mainstream schools

Local authorities must pay to each:

• maintained primary and secondary school

• all through maintained school

which they are responsible for maintaining, the allocation amounts shown in the MSAG school level allocations first payment 2023 to 2024 the figure set out in the “first payment” column and then the subsequent “second payment” when this is published.

Local authorities must comply with the condition above irrespective of any deficit relating to the expenditure of the school’s budget share.

MSAG is not part of schools’ budget shares and is not part of the individual schools’ budget. It is not to be counted for the purpose of calculating the minimum funding guarantee.

3. Permitted use of MSAG funds

Local authorities must ensure that their maintained schools only spend MSAG funds in the following ways:

• for the purposes of the school; or

• for the benefit of pupils registered at other maintained schools, pupil referral units or hospital schools

MSAG funds do not have to be spent by maintained schools in the financial year beginning 1 April 2023. Maintained schools may carry some or all of the MSAG funds forward to future financial years.

4. Certification

Each local authority will be required to certify to ESFA that they have complied with these terms and conditions.

ESFA will set out the arrangements for certification in spring 2024.

5. Variation

The basis for allocation of this grant may be varied by the Secretary of State from those set out above.

6. Overpayments

Any overpayment of MSAG by ESFA to a local authority shall be repaid by the local authority upon on such terms and conditions as ESFA or the Secretary of State for Education shall determine.

7. Further information

Books and other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts shall be open to inspection by the Secretary of State and by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The Comptroller and Auditor General may, under Section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983, carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the recipient has used its resources in discharging its grant-aided activities.

Schools and local authorities shall provide information as may be required by the Secretary of State to determine whether they have complied with these conditions.