EdTech: Demonstrator schools and colleges programme
Information about the first funding round and the application process.
Applies to England
About the programme
DfE is running a selection exercise to identify Demonstrator schools and colleges who are using technology effectively, and who are keen to share their experience and support other providers. This may include offering support and guidance on the effective use of technology to help reduce teacher workload, help create efficiencies, improve accessibility and ultimately support excellent teaching and learning.
The successful Demonstrators will receive between £75,000 and £150,000 in grant funding to support the delivery of this programme.
Applicants should note that for the purposes of this page, all publicly funded primary and secondary schools will be referred to hereafter as ‘schools’ and all providers of 16 to 19 education delivering publicly funded 16 to 19 study programmes as ‘colleges’.
Programme parameters
The Demonstrator schools and colleges programme is scheduled to run until the end of the academic year in 2021.
Demonstrators will be expected to support a broad network of other schools and colleges through a mix of activities, which should include the provision of advice, guidance and training. As a minimum, Demonstrator schools and colleges should:
- show evidence of impact of their own technology use and capacity to help others
- support other schools and colleges to use the technology already available to them more effectively to help address the challenges they face
- support schools and colleges on the strategic implementation of technology, including how technology can support back-office systems to support increased efficiency, teacher flexibility, workload reduction and improved accessibility and inclusion
- support meeting the needs of teachers and pupils and support improved outcomes
We expect successful Demonstrators to determine the number of schools and colleges they will support, and the type and intensity of support they will provide (according to the capacity of the Demonstrator and the needs of the schools and colleges they work with). We will agree minimum expectations for the numbers of organisations that each Demonstrator will support within their conditions of funding.
A third-party delivery partner will work with the Department to ensure that the Demonstrators are supported at a national level. The delivery partner will work collaboratively with Demonstrators from project inception through to evaluation and project closure. The delivery partner will be responsible for:
- management and day-to-day support of the Demonstrators
- allocating associated funding to Demonstrator schools and colleges quarterly
- governance - ensuring value for money is achieved and conditions of grant are met by the Demonstrators
- conducting formative and final evaluation, including monthly meetings with the DfE contract manager
Programme reach
The final number of successful Demonstrator schools and colleges will depend on the number and quality of bids received. However, our aim is to fund at least 2 Demonstrators within each region across the country.
Funding
Funding will be made available to support Demonstrator schools and colleges through funding for the delivery of the EdTech strategy.
The successful Demonstrators will receive between £75,000 and £150,000 in grant funding to support the delivery of this programme. The level of funding made available to each Demonstrator will vary depending on the intensity of proposed activity and number of schools/college each provider will support.
All expressions of interest should provide an overview of proposed expenditure against planned activity. Applicants should consider costs relating to resourcing backfill, travel and subsistence.
Background
The EdTech strategy made a series of commitments to help teachers and education leaders capitalise on technology to help reduce teacher workload, foster greater efficiencies, remove barriers to education and ultimately drive improvements in educational outcomes.
The strategy set out a range of barriers to the effective use of technology and put forward commitments to help address the issues. This included actions to help support teachers and education leaders develop the skills and confidence to use technology, and a commitment to launch a network of Demonstrator schools and colleges to showcase good practice and leverage expertise across the sector through peer-to-peer support and training.
Find more guidance and support for education providers who want to improve their use of EdTech in our Using technology in education collection.
Updates to this page
Last updated 24 April 2020 + show all updates
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Added information on how to apply for the second round of funding.
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Key dates section: dates for interviews and announcement of successful applicants updated.
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Added Skype session questions and answers.
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First published.