PE and sport premium: conditions of grant 2020 to 2021 (academies)
Updated 17 June 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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1. Introduction
The primary PE and sport premium 2020 to 2021 (“the premium”) will be paid by the Secretary of State for Education (“Secretary of State”) to the academies and free schools as stated in section 14 of the Education Act 2002. In accordance with section 16 of that Act, the Secretary of State sets the following terms on which financial assistance is given in relation to the premium payable for the academic year 2020 to 2021.
The premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year is paid in 2 instalments from the Secretary of State to academies and free schools as follows:
| Financial year | 2020 to 2021 academic year | Payment date |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 to 2021 | September 2020 to March 2021 | 2 November 2020 |
| 2021 to 2022 | April 2021 to August 2021 | 4 May 2021 |
2. Purpose of the premium
The premium must be used to fund additional and sustainable improvements to the provision of PE and sport, for the benefit of primary-aged pupils, in the 2020 to 2021 academic year, to encourage the development of healthy, active lifestyles.
The Department for Education (DfE) has published information on how much PE and sport premium funding primary schools receive, and advice on how to spend it.
3. Basis of allocation
Allocations for the academic year 2020 to 2021 are calculated using the number of pupils in years 1 to 6, as recorded in the January 2020 census, as follows:
- schools with 17 or more pupils receive £16,000 plus £10 per pupil
- schools with 16 or fewer pupils receive £1,000 per pupil
In the case of a school which has opened or is due to open during the 2020 to 2021 academic year, the above formula will apply based on pupils recorded on the autumn 2020 school census.
4. Terms on which the programme is allocated to schools
The premium must be spent by school proprietors on making additional and sustainable improvements to the provision of PE, physical activity and sport for the benefit of all primary-aged pupils to encourage the development of healthy, active lifestyles. This applies also to any carry over funding from the academic year 2019 to 2020.
Any unspent funding at 31 July 2021 can be carried forward into the 2021 to 2022 academic year. This applies to funding from the 2020 to 2021 academic year, and also to any carry over funding from the academic year 2019 to 2020. All funding carried forward into the 2021 to 2022 academic year must be spent by 31 July 2022.
The Secretary of State does not consider the following expenditure as falling within the scope of additional or sustainable improvement:
- employing coaches or specialist teachers to cover planning preparation and assessment (PPA) arrangements - these should come out of schools’ core staffing budgets
- teaching the minimum requirements of your existing PE curriculum
- fund capital expenditure
Academies and free school proprietors must publish, on their website, information about their use of the premium by the end of the summer term or 31 July 2021 at the latest.
Schools must publish:
- the amount of premium received
- a full breakdown of how it has been spent (or will be spent)
- what impact the school has seen on pupils’ PE and sport participation and attainment
- how the improvements will be sustainable in the future
- the percentage of pupils within their year 6 cohort for academic year 2020 to 2021 that can do each of the following:
- swim competently, confidently, and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
- use a range of strokes effectively (for example front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke
- perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations
If selected, schools must also take part in a sampling review to scrutinise their compliance with these terms.
5. Variation
The basis for allocation of the premium may be varied by the Secretary of State from those set out in clause 3 above, if requested by the academy or free school or at the discretion of the Secretary of State.
6. Other terms
If an academy or free school proprietor fails to comply with the terms set out in the paragraphs above, including but not limited to a school misusing the premium, the Secretary of State may require the repayment of the whole or any part of the premium paid to the academy or free school or the withholding of subsequent instalments of the premium.
This will be notified in writing to the school and any such sum that has been notified shall be recovered against general annual grant (GAG) funding by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) on behalf of the Secretary of State or withheld from subsequent instalments of the premium. Any such recoveries will be undertaken in line with the academy trust’s funding agreement.
7. Overpayments
Any overpayment of the premium shall be recovered against GAG funding by ESFA on behalf of the Secretary of State.
8. Further information
The books and other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts (for the purposes of this grant “recipient” is the academy or free school proprietor) must be made available for 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.
The academy or free school proprietor must provide such further information as may be required by the Secretary of State for the purpose of determining whether, or to what extent, it has complied with the terms set out in this document.
Failure to provide this information may result in the Secretary of State requiring repayment of the whole or any part of the premium paid to the academy or free school proprietor, according to the method outlined in paragraph 6, or the withholding of subsequent instalments of the premium.