Guidance

User guide: view my financial insights

Updated 26 September 2024

Applies to England

1. Introduction to view my financial insights (VMFI)

This section includes:

1.1. VMFI’s core features
1.2. What’s new in VMFI

View my financial insights (VMFI) is an online tool that helps schools view and improve their financial performance. It enables academy trusts and local authorities to see all their schools in one place and provides users with an automated assessment of their data based on similar schools. This assessment identifies areas with the greatest variance, providing users with a helpful starting to point to investigate, potentially leading to improved resource management.

VMFI is designed for a range of educational professionals:

• finance directors or chief financial officers (CFOs)
• business managers
• governors or trustees
• school leadership teams
• local authorities
• school resource management advisers (SRMAs)

1.1 VMFI’s core features

VMFI enables you to:

• compare the financial performance of each school against a predetermined set of 30 statistically similar comparator schools (see section 3.3). There are 2 types of comparator school: one based on pupil characteristics and the other on the building attributes. For cost categories such as premises staff and services, the size and age of the building gave a more accurate comparison than using the number of pupils.
• analyse financial performance across 9 cost categories and over 30 sub-cost categories
• identify areas across your trust or LA that may require further attention through the ‘areas for investigation’ page
• assess risks based on the budget forecast return (academies only) on the ‘forecasts and risks’ page
• create your own set of comparator schools through the ‘Select comparators’ tab
• the ability to edit your data locally to model different scenarios through the ‘data modelling’ tab
• create a high-level view of your integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) metrics
• view the latest commercial resources, frameworks, financial guidance and training available through DfE to support financial decisions through the ‘commercial resources’ tab
• see tailored recommendations for each school based on the areas of greatest variance in spend when compared to similar schools

1.2 What’s new in VMFI

Developments	Description
Curriculum and financial planning	Revised feature using curriculum data inputted by users
Part year data	Data for the schools who have joined MATs during the financial year (2021/22) is now included. This data can be seen either on an estimated annualised, or an actual, basis. These schools are not RAG rated and do not have historical comparisons.
School view navigation changes	Updated school view homepage and revisions to school profile and side by side comparators pages.

2. Getting started

This section includes:

2.1. How to access VMFI
2.2. VMFI: basic structure and navigation
2.3. Providing access for school resource management advisers
2.4. Summary of finances (academies only)
2.5. School resource management self-assessment tool (academies only)

2.1 How to access VMFI

See our guidance on how to access the view my financial insights tool.

2.2 VMFI: basic structure and navigation

VMFI consists of five menu tabs:

Tab	Description
Home	The home tab focuses primarily on comparing your school/s to its 30 most statistically similar schools in building characteristics or pupil characteristics across 9 cost categories. It has 2 tabs: ‘Trust/LA view’, which shows trust or local authority-level analytics, and ‘School view’, which displays school-level analytics. Trust/LA view features: - ‘areas for investigation’ - ‘forecasts and risks’ (academy trusts only) – forecasted risks from budget return and annual accounts return submissions - ‘trust/LA cost overview’ (not applicable for single academy trusts) – displays cost categories across all schools in your trust or local authority School view features: - ‘compare all your cost categories’- an overview of your costs compared to similar schools - ‘About my school’ - a detailed look at your school’s profile - ‘who am I compared with and why?’ - a list of the schools you’re compared with and the option to view the characteristics and spend of an individual school side-by-side with yours. At the top of ‘home’ screen, you can: - compare yourself against both sectors: choose to compare your school against a mix of the most statistically similar schools across maintained schools and academies where data from the same financial year is available - ‘see our guidance’: a link to this user guide - ‘data definitions and sources’: a link to detailed definitions and source for each cost category and sub-cost category represented in VMFI Within the ‘home’ tab, you will see blue navigation icons at the top left of the frame. The left-facing arrow takes you to the previous page. The home icon takes you back to the main ‘Trust/LA view’ or ‘School view’ page, depending on which tab you are using.
Select comparators	Select your own comparator schools to provide insights on how your spending compares to the comparator schools you have selected. This will change the insights shown in the home tab. When in your custom view, clicking the link in the banner will revert to the default view.
Data modelling	Edit the data of one of your schools to change the insights shown in the ‘home’ tab. Data changes made are local only and do not change the data submitted to DfE via data collections or returns.
Curriculum and financial planning	Use the integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) tool to help make your curriculum financially sustainable by measuring expected curriculum spending and staffing structure finances.
Commercial resources	Provides a list of guidance, frameworks, and other resources to help support your financial position. Recommendations are tailored to your suggested areas for investigation.

2.3 Providing access for school resource management advisers

For a school to grant a school resource management adviser (SRMA) access to their VMFI data, a user with a full access role should:

1. Go to the view your education data service and sign in.

2. Select ‘Academies and schools financial reporting’ and then ‘View my financial insights (VMFI) tool’.

3. Navigate to ‘School Resource Management Adviser access’.

4. Click ‘Give access’.

5. Select the company.

6. Select the adviser from the list and continue.

7. To revoke access, select the ‘Remove’ option.

SRMA names and their associated company will only show up once they have been registered for VMFI with the DfE SRMA team.

2.4 Summary of finances (academies only)

This summary report is available as a download within VMFI. It is based on the most recent budget forecast returns (BFR) and academies accounts return (AAR). The report is available to download in PDF or Excel format.

It provides quick insights into potential areas for improvement for your trust and can be easily shared amongst colleagues (for example, governors). It shows how your trust revenue reserves are forecasted to change and indicates the variances between your actual revenue reserves at the end of the year and your most recent forecast for that period.

For each school that has been part of the trust for the full financial year, it highlights the top area for investigation, based on widest variation in cost when compared to similar schools.

You can access the summary of finances report when you first log into the system. If you are already in the VMFI tool, you can click ‘view your education data’ in the top left-hand corner of the screen to return to this area.

2.5 School resource management self-assessment tool (academies only)

This has now been placed within the schools financial benchmarking site and can be accessed within the ‘start a comparison’ section of the website once you have selected a school. We will no longer maintain a pre-populated SRMSAT within VMFI.

3. How VMFI compares schools

This section includes:

3.1. Data sources
3.2. Cost categories
3.3. How default comparator schools are selected
3.4. RAG (red, amber, green) ratings
3.5. How VMFI apportions central services costs for MATs

3.1 Data sources

Data source	School sector
Academies accounts return submissions	Academies
Budget forecast return (BFR)	Academies
Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR)	Maintained schools
January school census	Both
Workforce census	Both
Condition data collection (CDC) data	Both
SEN dataset	Both
Get Information About Schools	Both

VMFI uses data supplied to DfE from financial returns that have been submitted on time. It will show information for those schools that have been part of the local authority for the full financial year or schools that are part of the trust at the end of the financial year.

3.2 Cost categories

VMFI’s data is grouped into 9 cost categories and over 30 sub-cost categories:

Cost category	Sub-cost category
Teaching and teaching support staff	- Teaching staff - Supply teaching staff - Agency supply teaching staff - Educational support staff - Educational consultancy
Non-educational support staff and services	- Administrative and clerical staff - Other staff - Professional services (non-curriculum) - Audit cost (academies only)
Educational supplies	- Learning resources (non ICT equipment) - Examination fees
Educational ICT	- ICT learning resources
Premises staff and services	- Premises staff - Maintenance of premises - Cleaning and caretaking - Other occupational costs
Utilities	- Energy - Water and sewerage
Administrative supplies	- Administrative supplies (non-educational)
Catering staff and supplies	- Catering staff - Catering supplies - Catering income
Other costs	- Indirect employee expenses - Staff development and training - Supply teacher insurance - Staff-related insurance - Rent and rates - Grounds maintenance - Special facilities - Other insurance premiums - Direct revenue financing (revenue contributions to capital) - PFI charges - Interest charges for loan and bank - Community-focused school staff (maintained schools only) - Community-focused school costs (maintained schools only)

3.3 How default comparator schools are selected

VMFI compares schools against the 30 schools most statistically similar in your sector (academy or maintained). Each school is placed within 2 comparators groups: one based on pupil characteristics and the other on building characteristics. The reason for this is that the nature of the buildings drives some of the costs in schools more than the pupils within them.

The following logic is used for both comparator groups.

1. The school is matched to the 60 schools that are most statistically similar.

2. Of those 60 schools, any in your region are automatically selected.

3. The most statistically similar schools from the rest of the group are then used to give a maximum of 30 schools.

This approach has been chosen to reflect user feedback that locality is an important factor in creating effective comparisons.

Building characteristics

This group is used to compare Utilities and Premises staff and services cost categories. The 30 default schools have been selected based on:

• school phase or type (nursery, primary, secondary, special, alternative provision/PRU and UTCs)
• boarding or non-boarding type
• region
• gross internal floor area
• average age of buildings
• whether it is a PFI school (for primary, secondary and special non-boarding)

Pupil characteristics

This group is used to compare the remaining seven cost categories (see section 3.2 for a full list). The 30 default schools have been selected based on:

• school phase or type (nursery, primary, secondary, special, alternative provision/PRU and UTCs)
• boarding or non-boarding type
• region
• number of pupils
• percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals
• percentage of SEN pupils, or proportion of various SEN provisions for special schools

Under school phase, middle schools are included in the phase appropriate to their deemed status. All-through schools and post-16 colleges are defined as secondary schools.

3.4 RAG (red, amber, green) ratings

What do the RAG ratings show

The RAG ratings are an indicator of how your spending in the cost categories compares to schools within the below ‘close range’ definition.

For 3 cost categories (teaching and teaching support staff; educational supplies; educational ICT), red ratings are allocated for either relative overspending or underspending. Schools with an ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ Ofsted rating are given an amber rating, not a red rating, for relative underspending in these cost categories.

For the other 6 cost categories, relatively low spending gives a green rating and high spending gives a red rating.

The table below provides a more detailed view on how the RAG ratings are allocated.

Table providing a detailed view on how the red, amber, green (RAG) ratings are allocated in VMFI

Where can you see the RAG ratings

• on the ‘home’ tab and ‘areas for investigation’ page, you can see RAG ratings across your trust or local authority
• on the ‘trust/LA cost overview’ page, select the toggle titled ‘RAG status compared to similar schools’. This is only available for the ‘per pupil or m2’ view
• on the ‘school cost overview’ page, select the toggle titled ‘RAG status’. This is only available for the ‘per pupil or m2’ view

How the RAG ratings are generated

RAG ratings compare your school/s against comparator schools that fall within the below definitions of ‘close range’:

• for the 2 building cost categories (premises staff and services, and utilities), comparator schools are considered as ‘close range’ for building characteristics when they are within +/- 10% of the gross internal floor area and +/- 20 years of the average age of buildings
• for all other cost categories, comparator schools are considered ‘close range’ for pupil characteristics when they are within +/- 25% of number of pupils, +/- 5% of % FSM and +/- 10% of % SEN

If you don’t have 10 or more comparator schools within the ‘close range’ definition, VMFI will use all 30 of the most statistically similar schools (the default comparator schools).

How the RAG ratings are generated in custom view

In a custom view (where you have selected your own comparator schools), RAG ratings will only be generated if a minimum of 10 comparator schools have been selected. This ensures the RAG ratings provided are sufficiently robust.

3.5 How VMFI apportions central services costs for MATs

For academies within a MAT, the values for cost categories and sub-cost categories also include a share of trust central services costs where these costs have been reported in the accounts return.

Depending on the cost category, these central services costs are apportioned based on the number of pupils or gross internal floor area in the trust’s academies. This is to ensure all costs are held at school level, so that schools that pay for certain things directly themselves can compare with schools who have services provided by their trust and pay for it through a top-slice.

4. Trust/LA view

This section includes:

4.1. Areas for investigation
4.2. Forecasts and risks (academy trusts only)
4.3. Trust/LA cost overview
4.4. Trust/LA single cost category

The ‘trust/LA view’ is a tab within the home tab that contains:

Feature	Description
Top 3 areas for investigation	Displays 3 cost categories across all schools within a trust or local authority which have the largest variance compared to the costs of their comparator schools.
Areas for investigation	An overview of all cost categories across your trust or local authority. Within the page, you can see the RAG status for each cost category in a school. This page is useful in quickly determining areas which might benefit from further investigation.
Forecast and risks (academies only)	This provides metrics based on data submitted in the budget forecast return, a trajectory on trust balances and compares budgeted reserves to actual reserves.
Trust/LA cost overview	An overview of your trust or local authority’s financial performance within 9 cost categories across each school. It enables you to see common issues across the whole trust or local authority. The page contains 9 bar charts, one for each category. Each bar represents one school. Single cost category graphs can be accessed by clicking on the link below the overview graphs. This view is not available for single-academy trusts as they can see the equivalent information in their academy dashboards.
Page guidance link	Detailed information about the content and navigation options available on the page.

To see a school’s cost category spend in greater detail, select the ‘School view’ tab. Then select the ‘compare all your cost categories’ box.

Data views

In a custom view (where you have selected your own comparator schools), areas for investigation will only be shown for schools which have generated a comparator set of at least 10 schools. This also apples to RAG ratings elsewhere in VMFI. If you have created a custom view for one school, results will not be displayed for schools without a custom comparator list until you return to VMFI’s default view.

Part year data schools

Where your trust has schools which have joined during the financial year, a banner will show with a link that takes you to a page showing your schools with limited data and whether they are included in VMFI. Schools that have part-year data are not RAG rated and do not show in ‘Areas for investigation’. Part-year data schools are shown with estimated annualised figures as default and can be amended here to show as the actual spend.

4.1 Areas for investigation

An overview of all cost categories across your trust or local authority. Within the page, you can see the RAG status for each cost category in a school when compared to its comparators. This page is useful to quickly determine areas which might benefit from further investigation. To see a school’s cost category spend in greater detail, select the ‘School view’ tab. Then select the ‘Compare all your cost categories’ box.

This page contains:

Element	Description
RAG summary boxes	The summary boxes show the total number of areas for investigation that are green, amber, or red across the trust or local authority. At the bottom of the box, you can see the change in RAG statuses from the previous year. Selecting the summary boxes will filter the table below.
‘RAG status by cost category’ bar chart	The bar chart shows the RAG status by cost category across the whole trust or local authority. Selecting the toggle titled ‘RAG status by cost category’ will show you the RAG statuses for each school. Selecting within the bar chart will filter the table below.
‘Areas for investigation’ table	The table is ranked based on greatest variance in spend for each school when they are measured against their school comparators for each cost category. The table can be filtered to show individual cost categories or schools by selecting on the name of the cost category or the school on the bar chart in the top right. There is an indication of how expenditure in the cost category has changed from the previous year.

4.2 Forecasts and risks (academy trusts only)

The ‘forecasts and risks’ page uses trust-level data from the budget forecast return submissions. This shows how your usable balances are projected to look and how these forecasts compare to actuals from the accounts return submissions.

Depending on the result of the metrics on the page, suggested recommendations and guidance may also appear above the graph.

This view contains:

Element	Description
Year-end balances	This graph shows how your year-end balances are forecasted to change. This graph uses the closing balance from the accounts returns and the latest forecasted revenue reserve balances from the budget forecast returns for each period. The blue line is used to indicate actuals, whereas the purple dotted line indicates forecasted balances. These figures can be shown by actuals or per pupil using the tabs.
Forecasting variance	The forecasting variance enables users to gauge their forecasting accuracy. To assess the accuracy of the forecasted revenue reserve balance from the budget forecast return, it is compared with the actual closing balance from the accounts return for the same period. We compare the most recent forecast for any given period. Depending on the size of the variance, a variance status will indicate whether you are under or over forecasting.
Budget forecast return metrics	This table shows metrics calculated from the latest budget forecast return data. The metrics show the following: - your projected revenue reserves as a proportion of your total income - your projected spend on staff costs as a proportion of your total income - your expenditure to income ratio – if this is greater than 100% then this indicates you are forecasting an in-year deficit - the proportion of your total income made up of grant funding vs self-generated income.

4.3 Trust/LA cost overview

The dashboard shows the performance of each school in your trust or local authority across all cost categories. The dashboard is not available for single-academy trusts.

Where a school doesn’t have any recorded spend in a cost category, the school bar will not be displayed on the chart.

For multi-academy trusts, the values for the cost categories and sub-cost categories also include a share of trust central services costs for this category, if such costs exist in the benchmarking section of the accounts return. These central services costs are apportioned based on the number of pupils, or gross internal floor area, in the trust’s academies.

This view contains:

Element	Description
Bar charts	Each bar chart represents one of the 9 cost categories (see section 3.2 for detail on the cost categories). Each bar within a chart represents one school in the trust or local authority. Schools are shown in alphabetical order. Below each graph, users can select to view a breakdown of cost category expenditure across the trust or local authority.
Change data view	The tabs at the top of the window let you see the data on this page using 4 different views: 1. Per pupil or per metre squared (m2). Per m2 is the unit of measure for 2 cost categories: premises staff and services; utilities. Per pupil is the unit of measure for all other cost categories. 2. Actuals. Shows the total spend for the cost category. 3. Percentage of expenditure. Shows the percentage of total expenditure for the school. 4. Percentage of income. Shows the percentage of total income for the school.
Filter by school phase or type	A drop-down menu lets you select your preferred school phase or type view for this page.
Filter by ward and/or district	Drop-down menus let you choose the ward and/or district view for this page
RAG rating toggle	When the RAG rating is selected, each school in the trust or local authority will be assigned a red, amber or green rating based on its performance in relation to its comparator schools, a list of which can be found on the ‘View your comparators’ page for that school. Part-year data schools are not RAG rated. When this feature is selected, the ‘historical comparison’ toggle is disabled. For more information about RAG ratings, see section 3.4 of this guide.
Historical comparison	When you select the ‘historical comparison’ toggle, a comparison to previous years’ data will show on the graphs. When this feature is selected, the RAG rating toggle is disabled. Part-year data schools do not have historical comparisons.
Part-year data schools	Where these are included, a banner states whether estimated annualised or actual figures are being shown. This can be amended by following the link.

To see more detailed information, under each graph users can select to view a breakdown of cost category expenditure across the trust or local authority.

4.4 Trust/LA single cost category

Each of these pages shows your trust’s or local authority’s current performance at a single cost category and sub-cost category level. This section is not available for single-academy trusts.

Where a school doesn’t have any recorded spend in a cost or sub-cost category, the school bar will not be displayed on the chart.

For multi-academy trusts, the values for the cost categories and sub-cost categories also include a share of trust central services costs for this category, if such costs exist in the benchmarking section of the accounts return. These central services costs are apportioned based on the number of pupils or gross internal floor area in the trust’s academies.

This view contains:

Element	Description
Total cost category spend by school	Bar chart depicting the total cost category spend for each school in your trust or local authority. The schools are shown in alphabetical order.
Total spend in the single cost category	A chart in the window shows your trust’s or local authority’s total spend in the single cost category broken down as a portion of spend by each sub-cost category (when sub-cost categories are present).
Sub-cost category by school	The bar chart explores sub-cost categories: - each chart represents one sub-cost category. Where more than one sub-category exists, you can switch between them using the tabs above the graph - each bar within a chart represents one school in your trust or local authority - the schools are shown in alphabetical order.
Change data view	The tabs at the top of the window allow you to see the data across 4 different views: 1. Per pupil or per metre squared (m2). Per m2 is the unit of measure for 2 cost categories: premises staff and services; utilities. Per pupil is the unit of measure for all other cost categories 2. Actuals. Shows the total spend for the cost category. 3. Percentage of expenditure. Shows the percentage of total expenditure for the school 4. Percentage of income. Shows the percentage of total income for the school In the cost category ‘catering staff and supplies’, you can switch between gross costs and net costs.
Filter by school phase or type	A drop-down menu lets you select your preferred school phase or type view for this page.
Filter by ward and/or district	A drop-down menu lets you choose the ward and/or district view for this page.
Historical comparison	When you select the ‘historical comparison’ toggle, a comparison to previous years’ data will show on the graphs. The cost category breakdown chart will change to a table view.
Part-year data schools	Where these are included, a banner states whether estimated annualised or actual figures are being shown. This can be amended by following the link.

5. School view

This section includes:

5.1. School single cost category page
5.2. School cost overview
5.3. School profile
5.4. Comparator school profile

Select the school within your trust or the local authority that you want to review using the school selector at the top of the page. You can search for a school in your trust or local authority by name, postcode, or URN. The school view pages will be blank until a school is selected.

VMFI’s default position is to compare your school (or schools) with statistically similar schools within your sector. If you wish to be compared to the most statistically similar schools across both sectors, select the tick box under the school selector. Due to the different year-ends, note that, for maintained schools, you will not be able to select this option during the period when the most recent academy data is still relating to the previous year.

Both these choices will be saved as default when you next log into VMFI.

Element	Description
Top 2 areas for investigation	Displays the 2 cost categories for your school which have the largest variance when compared to the costs of comparator schools. Click through the boxes to go to those cost category pages.
Compare all your cost categories	Shows your school’s current performance across all cost categories when compared to comparator schools.
About my school	A detailed look at the profile of your school.
Who am I compared to and why?	A detailed look at the profile of your school and your comparator schools.

5.1 School single cost category page

You can access these pages by selecting ‘Compare your costs’ on the school view homepage. Select from the list a single cost category to see an overview of costs compared to similar schools in that category.

Where a school doesn’t have any recorded spend in a cost or sub-cost category, the school bar will not be displayed on the chart.

Element	Description
Single cost category chart	A bar chart shows your school’s total spend in the single cost category against its comparator schools. A line shows the national average spend in that cost category.
Breakdown of school spend in the single cost category	A chart shows the breakdown of your cost-category spend by its sub cost categories. In the case of catering staff and supplies, this will also show catering income in the net cost view.
Sub-cost categories	A bar chart explores sub-cost categories. Each chart represents one sub-cost category. Where there is more than one sub-category you can switch between them using the tabs above the graph. These charts show your school’s current performance in sub-cost categories against comparators. A line shows the median spend in that sub-cost category from the comparator. group. The schools are shown in alphabetical order. When costs in the sub-cost category are high, a link will lead to the recommended commercial resources to help you reduce this cost.
Change data view	The tabs at the top of the window allow you to see the data across 4 different views: 1. Per pupil or per metre squared (m2). Per m2 is the unit of measure for 2 cost categories: premises staff and services; utilities. Per pupil is the unit of measure for all other cost categories. 2. Actuals. Shows the total spend for the cost category. 3. Percentage of expenditure. Shows the percentage of total expenditure for the school. 4. Percentage of income. Shows the percentage of total income for the school. In the cost category ‘catering staff and supplies’, you can switch between gross costs and net costs.
Historical comparison	When you select the ‘historical comparison’ toggle, a comparison to previous years’ data will show on the graphs. The cost category breakdown chart will change to a table view. Part-year data schools will not show historical comparisons.
Comparator groups	Predetermined comparator groups of schools can change from cost category to cost category, for instance, selection of comparator schools for premises staff and services (and utilities) will be driven by commonalities in building characteristics. For example, gross internal floor area, rather than characteristics based on the pupils. For more information on how predetermined schools were selected, see section 3.2 of this guide. You can select your own set of schools to compare against by using the ‘select comparators’ tab.

5.2 School cost overview

The school cost overview shows your school’s current performance across all cost categories. This page can be accessed by selecting ‘view cost overview’ on the ‘compare your costs’ page. Choose a cost category to view – default is teaching and teaching support staff.

Where a school doesn’t have any recorded spend in a cost category, the school bar will not be displayed on the chart.

This overview contains:

Element	Description
Bar charts	Each bar chart represents one of the 9 cost categories (see section 3.2 for detail on the cost categories). Users can select cost categories from the drop-down menu above the graph. Each bar within a chart represents the school and their comparator schools. Schools are shown in alphabetical order. The horizontal line on each graph shows the median spend in that cost category from the comparator group.
Change data view	The tabs along the top of the window allow you to look at the data on this page through 4 different views: 1. Per pupil or per metre squared (m2). Per m2 is the unit of measure for 2 cost categories: premises staff and services; utilities. Per pupil is the unit of measure for all other cost categories 2. Actuals. Shows the total spend for the cost category 3. Percentage of expenditure. Shows the percentage of total expenditure for the school 4. Percentage of income. Shows the percentage of total income for the school In the cost category ‘catering staff and supplies’, you can switch between gross costs and net costs.
Filter by Ofsted rating	Choose from the drop-down menu in the window to select your preferred Ofsted view. If you do not include your school’s rating, your school will be excluded from the view.
RAG rating toggle	On the per pupil or m2 view, you can switch a RAG rating assessment on and off. In this view, your school is assigned a RAG rating based on its performance in relation to its most statistically similar comparator schools. When this feature is selected, the ‘historical comparison’ toggle is disabled. Part-year data schools are not RAG rated.
Historical comparison	When you select the ‘historical comparison’ toggle, a comparison to previous years’ data will show on the graphs. When this feature is selected, the RAG rating toggle is disabled. Part-year data schools will not show historical comparisons.
Comparator groups	Predetermined comparator groups of schools can change from cost category to cost category, for instance, selection of comparator schools for premises staff and services (and utilities) will be driven by commonalities in building characteristics. For example, gross internal floor area, rather than characteristics based on the pupils. For more information on how predetermined schools were selected, see section 3.2 of this guide. You can select your own set of schools to compare against by using the ‘select comparators’ tab

5.3 School profile

This page shows key statistics and data for your school. You can access the page by selecting ‘about your school’ on the ‘school view’ homepage.

A link below the costs table will take you to your schools financial benchmarking webpage.

For part-year data schools, the link in the banner will allow you to change between viewing estimated annualised or actual data for your school. This will apply to all screens for that school in the school view.

5.4 Comparator school profile

You can access the page by selecting ‘who am I compared to and why?’ on the ‘school view’ homepage. This can also be accessed from the school view cost category pages by clicking the link ‘who am I compared to and why?’.

In default view, it shows the groups of comparator schools used for the comparison charts and RAG ratings, based on pupil characteristics or building characteristics.

It will show up to 30 of the most similar schools based on the pupil or building characteristics. If there are not 30 schools, then as many as possible will be shown.

These are numbered 1 to 30, with number 1 representing the most similar match to your school and number 30 representing the 30th most similar match.

If you have selected your own set of comparator schools, that list will appear here. It will be duplicated for both pupil characteristics and building characteristics tables. Number 1 will be the most similar match to your school, based on whether it is using pupil characteristics or building characteristics.

For more information on how default comparator schools are selected, see section 3.3 of this guide

These lists can be filtered based on Ofsted rating.

Select a school and click through ‘view comparator school’ to go to the side-by-side comparison pages.

Characteristics tab – provides the side-by-side key statistics for your school and the comparator school chosen.

For comparator academies, the CFO’s email details will appear at the bottom right of the screen.

Costs tab – provides the side-by-side costs for your school and the comparator school chosen based on whether it has been chosen based on pupil or building characteristics.

The data on this page can be looked at through 4 different views:

1. Per pupil or per metre squared (m2). Per m2 is the unit of measure for premises staff and services and utilities. Per pupil is the unit of measure for all other cost categories.

2. Actuals. Data is expressed as the total spend for the cost category.

3. Percentage of expenditure. Data is expressed as a percentage of total expenditure for the school.

4. Percentage of income. Data is expressed as a percentage of total income for the school.

For multi-academy trusts, the values for the cost categories and sub-cost categories also include a share of trust central services costs for this category, if such costs exist in the benchmarking section of the accounts return. These central services costs are apportioned based on the number of pupils, or gross internal floor area, in the trust’s academies.

The cost information can be viewed as a table or as graph.

For part-year data schools, a banner will show indicating whether it is showing estimated annualised or actual data for your school, which can be changed by following the link to the profile page.

6. Select comparators

The ‘Select comparators’ tab allows you to select your own custom set of comparator schools. This will change the insights shown in the home tab.

To generate areas for investigation and a RAG rating, a minimum of 10 comparator schools must be selected for a given school. If fewer than 10 schools are chosen, insights will still be shown in the single cost category and school profile pages.

6.1 Choosing comparator schools and generating custom views

You can choose to select groups of up to 30 comparator schools for each school:

1. Select the tab ‘Select comparators’, and you will go to the ‘Select comparator schools’ section.

2. To begin, use the drop-down box to select a school you would like to build a comparison set for, and select the ‘continue’ button.

3. This takes you to the ‘Select comparator schools’ page, which is divided into 2 columns:

• the first column provides several ways to locate comparator schools. You can search by typing in specific names of trusts or individual schools. Alternatively, you can use the filters to select specific metrics
• the second column shows a list of schools that meet the inputs from the search or filters. Information on each school can be found by selecting ‘view more details’

If you want to add a school to your comparator list, select the ‘add to comparator list’ button next to that school. The number of schools you have chosen will show above the list. You can add up to a maximum of 30 schools.

If you want to remove a school from your comparator list, select the ‘remove from comparator list’ button next to that school.

1. When you have selected the comparators required, select the ‘review my comparator list’ button. This page shows the list of the schools you have chosen as comparators. Comparators can be removed from this list or select the ‘add more comparators’ link at the bottom of the page to choose more comparators.

2. When the list is correct, select the ‘save custom comparator schools’ button to generate the custom view. A notification will appear to inform you that the custom comparators have been saved and a custom version of the dashboard is being generated. This will take some time, as it involves recalculating all of VMFI’s data. While you are waiting for this version to be generated, you can continue using VMFI.

3. When the notification appears, select the green button labelled ‘Go to custom dashboard’.

4. Your custom view will default to the ‘School view’ home tab. The custom view will only contain comparators for the schools that you have created a custom comparator set for. As a result, the top 3 areas for investigation will only relate to the schools in the trust or local authority for which you have generated custom comparator sets.

5. Go to the school view tab, to see the comparison charts and school profile information for your selected school.

You can repeat the selection process to generate comparator sets for other schools within your trust or local authority.

Custom view

A notification appears telling you that you are looking at a custom view of comparators.

Returning to default view

Click the link in the banner to revert to default view.

Saving and retrieving a custom view

When you ‘save custom comparator schools’ for a school, these will be saved in VMFI and can be retrieved by going to the notification in the ‘Select comparator schools’ page for the school and selecting ‘Go to custom view’. You will not need to wait for it to be re-created.

Accessing custom peer group view the next time you sign in

When you sign out of VMFI and sign back in you will return to your default list of schools. However, your customised comparator groups are saved, and you can view them by selecting the ‘Select comparators’ tab:

1. Select a school in your trust or local authority containing a comparator set.

2. If a custom comparator group has been generated, a notification will appear to show when the data was updated, and you can select ‘go to custom view’. This will take you to the ‘School view’ home tab.

7. Data modelling

Data modelling lets you adjust non-financial and cost category data for each school in your trust or local authority to generate custom views incorporating these changes. Data changes made do not change the data submitted to DfE via data collections or returns.

To continue or review the data, choose a school, and select the ‘continue’ button.

Select a category to view default and custom values.

To adjust data within a category:

• select adjust data in each category
• enter the new value in the custom value column. When adjusting cost category data, ensure all values are stated in actual values (£30,000 would be 30000)
• you can choose between showing the custom value or default value
• select ‘save custom values’
• the default value will appear in your custom view if no custom value has been entered
• if you want to adjust the data on another school, choose the school from the drop-down list and repeat the data modelling process
• to generate the custom view, select ‘save custom values’ below the list of categories. A notification will appear informing you that the custom data has been saved and a custom version of the dashboard is being generated. This will take some time as all of VMFI’s data on your account has to be recalculated. While you are waiting for this version to be generated, you can continue using VMFI. A further notification will appear when this has been completed
• when the notification appears, select the green button labelled ‘go to custom dashboard’
• your custom view will default to the ‘School view’ home tab

When the non-financial metrics are adjusted, VMFI will recalculate the comparator set.

Custom view

A notification appears telling you that you are looking at custom data.

Returning to default view

Values can be set to reset to default values by selecting ‘reset all values to default values’ and below the list of categories, selecting ‘save custom values’ (note: this can take some time). Going to this custom view will then be the default view for that school.

Saving custom data

When you have saved custom data, the values will be saved within VMFI. When there is an overnight reset, the view will automatically change to the default view.

Accessing custom data view the next time you log in

To view the customised data on a subsequent visit to VMFI:

• go to data modelling
• choose a school that has custom data
• a notification will show to say who in the school has adjusted data, and the time, with the option to ‘Go to custom view’
• select ‘Go to custom view’ to generate the custom view

8. Curriculum and financial planning (ICFP)

This section includes:

8.1 Entering your data
8.2 Help with calculated curriculum metrics
8.3 Help with calculated financial metrics
8.4 Help with RAG ratings in ICFP

Integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) is a management process that can help schools plan their curriculum based on the finances they have available. The ICFP tool available in VMFI is an introduction to this process.

Use the integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) tool to help make your curriculum financially sustainable by measuring expected curriculum spending and staffing structure finances.

The tool is pre-populated with data from the most recent financial returns and corresponding school and workforce census data held within VMFI.

You will need to fill in some information relating to curriculum and finances. The tool will then provide a set of basic ICFP calculations.

There is detailed guidance on how ICFP can help you, as well as other ICFP tools.

8.1 Entering your own data

Users will be asked to select the planned year for the school they wish to carry out the analysis for. After selecting ‘continue’, you can enter curriculum and finance data for the planned year. Where data is pre-populated, this will be from the submissions for the latest financial year held in VMFI.

Primary schools will be asked to enter the following data:

• Total expenditure
• Total income
• Full-time equivalent teachers
• Total teacher costs
• Total education support staff costs
• Length of timetable cycle
• Nursery pupils as FTE
• Pupils on roll by year group (including mixed age groups)
• Teacher period allocation by year group
• Number of teaching assistants by year group
• Type and number of other teaching periods
• Management roles with teaching responsibilities and their teaching periods

Secondary schools and all-through schools will be asked to enter the following data:

• Total expenditure
• Total income
• Full-time equivalent teachers
• Total teacher costs
• Length of timetable cycle
• Pupils on roll by year group
• Year 12 and 13 pupils as FTE
• Teacher period allocation by year group
• Type and number of other teaching periods
• Management roles with teaching responsibilities and their teaching periods

The tool will present your calculations in tables showing Curriculum and financial metrics, Staff deployment, Management staff deployment and a Scenario planner. From this view, you can select ‘change’ next to relevant fields to amend the data and the calculations will be recalculated.

Data changes made are local only and do not change the data submitted to DfE via data collections or returns.

Special and alternative provision schools are able to use the feature and will need to assess whether it is suitable for their settings.

8.2 Help with curriculum metrics

This guidance shows the calculations for the curriculum metrics used in ICFP.

Pupil-teacher ratio

Calculation

PTR = N / T

• PTR = pupil-teacher ratio
• N = number of pupils
• T = number of FTE teachers

Deployed average class size

The average number of pupils per class.

Calculation

ACS = N * TT / TTPA

• ACS = average class size
• N = number of pupils
• TT = length of timetable cycle in periods
• TTPA = total teacher period allocation

Average teacher load (periods)

The average number of teaching periods for one teacher per timetable period.

Calculation

ATL = TTPA / T

• ATL = average teacher load
• TTPA = total teacher period allocation
• T = number of FTE teachers

Teacher contact ratio

The proportion of a teacher’s time that they spend teaching.

Calculation

c = TTPA / (TT * T)

• c = contact ratio
• TTPA = total teacher period allocation
• TT = length of timetable cycle in periods
• T = number of FTE teachers

8.3 Help with calculated financial metrics

This guidance shows the calculations for the finance metrics used in ICFP.

Income per pupil

Calculation

PPI = I / N

• PPI = income per pupil
• I = total income
• N = number of pupils

Teacher costs as a percentage of expenditure

Calculation

TCE = (TTC / E) * 100

• TCE = teacher costs as a percentage of income
• TTC = total cost of teachers
• E = total expenditure

Teacher costs as a percentage of income

Calculation

TCE = (TTC / I) * 100

• TCE = teacher costs as a percentage of income
• TTC = total cost of teachers
• I = total income

In-year balance

Calculation

B = I - E

• B = in-year balance
• I = total income
• E = total expenditure

In-year balance as a percentage of income

Calculation

BI = (B / I) * 100

• BI = in-year balance as a percentage of income
• B = in-year balance
• I = total income

Cost per lesson

Calculation

LC = TTC / TTPA

• LC = cost per lesson
• TTC = total cost of teachers
• TTPA = total teaching period allocation

Average teaching cost

Calculation

ATC = TTC / T

• ATC = Average teacher cost
• TTC = total cost of teachers
• T = number of teachers

Average teaching assistant cost

Calculation

ATAC = TTAC / TA

• ATAC = Average teaching assistant cost
• TTAC = total cost of teaching assistants
• TA = number of teaching assistants

8.4 Help with RAG ratings in the ICFP

For the ICFP feature, your school is grouped with others based on the phase, whether there is a sixth form, London weighting, the number of pupils and the percentage of free school meals.

The RAG rating is derived from thresholds that are calculated by DfE biannually for each separate group.

The RAG ratings which are used in the ICFP feature are the same as those used by the Schools Financial Benchmarking service.

9. Commercial resources

You can use this part of VMFI to review areas of high-spend for schools in your trust or local authority. There are links to frameworks and commercial services for these areas. Recommendations offered are based on your school’s data.

Recommendations

This section contains tailored recommendations for each school based on the areas of greatest variance in spend when compared to similar schools. We have used the data from your most recent financial return submissions. Recommendations are broken down by sub-cost category.

From the drop-down list on the left, you can select schools in the trust or local authority with recommendations. Only schools with recommendations will appear in this view.

If your school is in a buying hubs pilot region, a link to the website is provided.

Find resources

This section contains links to general commercial and financial resources. Examples include the risk protection arrangement (RPA), school business professionals network and the full list of DfE-approved frameworks.

10. Troubleshooting

General troubleshooting steps

If something looks odd in VMFI, there are a couple of quick actions you can take to reset the view:

• refresh the page
• log out of DfE Sign-in and log back in
• check you are on the internet
• clear browser history
• reboot computer

There will be a time-out or sign-out of the session due to inactivity. Users will need to sign back in to continue working in VMFI.

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Check platforms and browsers

The VMFI tool is best viewed on laptops, computers and tablets running Chrome or Edge as a browser. However, VMFI will run on any browser, though it may be slower in responding.

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DfE Sign-in and access

If you are experiencing any difficulties signing in to DfE Sign-in, use the DfE Sign-in contact form

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Maintenance notifications

If VMFI is down for any routine maintenance that temporarily prohibits access, a message should appear on the ‘View your education data’ page.

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One view with multiple users

If any changes are made by you in VMFI – for example, a custom set of comparator schools is selected – those changes will be viewable by other users in the trust or local authority if they are interacting with VMFI at the same time.

Data changes are processed first in batches, and within batches in the order they are received, so when a change becomes visible to you, it will also be visible to others in your trust or local authority who are on VMFI at the same time.

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There are fewer schools showing on the charts

There will be no bar in a chart if there are no values showing for a school in a cost category or sub-cost category.

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A school is missing from the trust or local authority

A school needs to be a part of the local authority for an entire submission period or to be part of a trust at the end of the submission period for its data to be shown in VMFI.

Schools with no pupil census information for the January census will not appear.

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Data for my trust is missing

If a trust is late with their submission, their data will not appear in the tool.

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How can I make the charts bigger?

The screens on the home page can be expanded to fill the browser frame, making the charts bigger. To do this select ‘Present in full screen’. When you are ready to return to normal view, select the escape (Esc) button on your keyboard.

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I can no longer see the tabs at the top of the page or the frame around the window.

You may have accidentally expanded the screens on the home page to fill the entire browser frame. Try pressing the escape (Esc) button on your keyboard to return to normal view.

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Something in my school’s data looks incorrect

The data used by VMFI is taken directly from financial submissions and other forms that have been submitted by your schools.

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Time-out

There will be a time-out or sign-out of the session due to inactivity. Users will need to sign back in to continue working in VMFI.

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I’ve selected my own comparator schools in a previous session but, I want to remove them.

Go to the review page of the ‘Select comparators’ feature by selecting the school and then selecting the ‘View previously selected custom comparators’. You can remove comparator schools and add new comparators in the same way that they were selected.

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I’ve saved a set of comparator schools, but I cannot see them when I click on the notification to say they’re ready.

If you have saved your set of comparators and changed schools while waiting for your custom dashboard to appear, when the notification pops up and you refresh the view, you will see the set of custom comparators for the school you are currently viewing. If there are no custom comparators chosen for this school, you will not have any comparators showing in your charts.

To see the set of comparators you chose, click on the ‘Change comparators’ link in the banner or go straight to the ‘Select comparators’ section and select the school with comparators you want to view. If a previous set of custom comparators has been created, a notification will show and you can go to the custom view that was generated for that school. You will not need to wait for it to be re-created.

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I’ve selected my own comparator schools in a previous session but, when I’m in the custom view, they’re not showing.

The custom view will need to be generated for each school you want to look at. Go to the review page of the ‘Select comparators’ feature for that school and select the ‘Create custom view’ button to generate the view and, when available, select the ‘Go to custom view’ button.

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I’ve saved some modelled data but I cannot see it when I click on the notification to say they are ready.

If you have saved modelled data and changed schools while waiting for your custom dashboard to appear, when the notification pops up and you refresh the view, you will see the set of modelled data for the school you are currently viewing. If they have no modelled data saved, it will be the default data.

To see the modelled data you entered, click on ‘Change school’ and search and select the school you want to view with modelled data. Alternatively, on the notification, select ‘Change data modelling’ and select the school with modelled data you want to view. A notification will show and you can go to the custom view that was generated for that school. You will not need to wait for it to be re-created.

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Multiple users and custom views

Any user from the trust or local authority with access to the View my financial insights tool can amend the comparator list for a school. One custom set can be saved for each school in the trust or local authority.

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