Guidance

COVID-19 recovery premium 2023 to 2024: conditions of grant for academies and free schools

Updated 25 March 2024

Applies to England

1.  Introduction

The Secretary of State for Education lays down the following terms and conditions on which assistance is given in relation to the recovery premium grant (RP) grant payable to academies (including free schools) for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

The following terms and conditions apply to single trusts and multi-academy trusts (MATs).

RP grant rates and detailed eligibility criteria for the 2023 to 2024 academic year are set out in the RP grant technical note.

RP grant is part of the government’s package of funding to support disadvantaged pupils with their education recovery.

This is a time-limited grant for the 2021 to 2022, 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 academic years.

2. Eligibility criteria

RP grant for academies is distributed directly by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) based on pupil premium (PP) grant eligibility. RP grant is allocated to mainstream academies (at the rates set out in the technical note) based on the number of pupils in year groups reception to year 11, who are:

• recorded as eligible for free school meals (FSM) or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (FSM Ever 6). This includes eligible children of families who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

• previously looked-after children (PLAC): pupils who were looked after by a local authority or other state care immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order). From 1 April 2023, RP grant eligibility for pupils who have been adopted from care or have left care will include children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales

RP grant for special academies, special educational needs (SEN) units in mainstream academies, and alternative provision (AP) academies is allocated (at the rates set out in the technical note) based on the total number of pupils in reception to year 11, minus those children who are looked after by the local authority (see paragraph below).

RP grant is allocated to local authorities based on the number of looked-after children (LAC) supported by the authority, including those who attend academies. LAC are defined in the Children Act 1989 as those who are in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, an English local authority. It is for the local authority to decide how much of this funding to pass on to the child’s academy.

3. Permitted use of RP grant

RP grant must be spent to support eligible pupil cohorts with their education recovery see section 2. Eligibility criteria above following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant can be spent:

• for the benefit of pupils registered at the academy that receives it

• for the benefit of pupils registered at other state funded schools or academies - for example, when hosting summer schools which welcome pupils from other schools

• on community services whose provision furthers the benefit of pupils at the academy - for example where virtual school heads (responsible for LAC RP grant) deem it beneficial to do so, such as art therapy outside of the classroom, or training of local authority staff to raise awareness of LAC

Academies may use a portion of RP grant funding to support pupils who do not meet any of the RP grant eligibility criteria set out at section 2. Eligibility criteria above where they deem it beneficial to do so. For example, RP grant can be used to support other pupils with identified needs, such as pupils who have or have had a social worker, or pupils who act as a carer. It can also be used for whole class approaches, for example high- quality teaching, which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils.

MATs may pool resources and set a plan for use of RP grant across multiple academies. MATs must ensure that any plan is flexible enough to accommodate the specific needs of each academy’s disadvantaged pupil cohort and the plan must be in addition to the plan for each academy – see section 5. Accountability for further information.

Processes for allocating funding that has been passed on to the child’s school should be as simple as possible, to avoid delay.

3.1 The ‘menu of approaches’

To ensure the RP grant is focused on effective approaches to raising the attainment of eligible pupils, academies must use their RP grant (and their PP grant – see the PP grant conditions of grant in line with the ‘menu of approaches’ set by the Department of Education (DfE). The menu of approaches is in the ‘Pupil premium’ guidance .

The menu has been developed in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF’s) 3-tiered approach to help schools allocate spending across the following 3 key areas:

• support high-quality teaching, such as staff professional development

• provide targeted academic support, such as tutoring

• tackle non-academic barriers to academic success, such as difficulties with attendance, behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing

In line with EEF’s recommended approach, academies should particularly prioritise high quality teaching, though the exact balance of spending between tiers will vary depending on the specific needs of their pupils.

Academies are not required to allocate RP grant to every approach on the menu, but any activity funded by RP grant must fall under one of the approaches listed.

Academies must not use RP grant to meet their portion of the costs of tuition provided through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). Academies are required to meet those costs from other sources of income, such as PP grant. RP grant is additional funding to provide further education recovery support on top of the subsidised NTP offer.

For PLAC, it is the responsibility of the academy to ensure that their use of RP grant addresses the specific needs of PLAC attending the academy.

For LAC, it is the responsibility of the virtual school head in the local authority that looks after the child, in consultation with the child’s academy, to ensure that PP grant is used to support the child’s educational needs. This should be in accordance with their personal education plans and in line with the menu of approaches.

See the ‘Pupil premium’ guidance (which can also be used to support the use of RP grant) for further information.

 4. Use of evidence

As set out at section 3.1 - The menu of approaches, the DfE introduced the menu of approaches to ensure that RP grant (and PP grant – see PP grant conditions of grant is focused on effective approaches to raise the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Academies must be able to demonstrate in their published strategy statement see section 5. Accountability how they have considered the evidence and an understanding of the needs of their pupils when using the menu to plan how they will use their RP grant.

5. Accountability

Academies whose PP grant allocation for the financial year 2023-24 is based on 6 or more eligible pupils are required to publish an updated PP strategy statement annually. Those whose allocation is based on 5 pupils or fewer are not required to publish a pupil premium strategy statement. Schools are required to include information on how they have used their RP grant in their strategy statement.

Although MATs can pool resources and set a plan for use of PP grant and RP grant across multiple academies, a separate pupil premium strategy statement must be published for each academy within the MAT.

All academies that are required to publish a strategy statement for the 2023 to 2024 academic year must do so by 31 December 2023, using the template available in the guidance page. The template is designed to help academies develop their pupil premium (and recovery premium) strategy and to demonstrate that their use of the funding meets the requirements of the conditions of grant for both grants.

DfE will review a sample of academies’ published strategy statements to ensure that PP grant and RP grant have been spent in line with the relevant conditions of grant.

Given their role in ensuring that academies use funding appropriately, and in holding academies to account for educational performance, they should scrutinise academies’ strategy statements, including trustees’ plans for use of their RP grant and the outcomes achieved in the previous academic year.

Academies are held accountable for the outcomes they achieve with all their funding, including through Ofsted inspections and by trustees, and the RP grant is no exception.

All eligible academies are required to declare that the RP grant they have spent during the 2023 to 2024 academic year has been spent in line with the conditions set out in this document. A tick-box declaration will be added to the 2023 to 2024 year-end statement for NTP.

6. Allocation and payment schedule

DfE will publish allocations shortly before each instalment of RP grant is paid.

ESFA will pay the RP grant to academies in quarterly instalments as follows:

• 9 October 2023
• 9 January 2024
• 9 April 2024
• 8 July 2024

Where the number of eligible pupils in an academy results in its allocation being below the relevant floor amount see the technical note, the allocation will be increased to the floor amount.

If an academy opens or closes during the academic year, ESFA shall allocate RP grant for the proportion of the academic year the school is open.

7. Carrying RP grant forward

Academies must spend all of the RP grant they receive in the 2023 to 2024 academic year. RP grant must not be carried forward to future academic years. Funding will be recovered where ESFA has identified that a school has not spent all of its RP grant.

8. Variation

The basis for allocation of grant may be varied by the Secretary of State from that set out above, if so requested by the academy.

 9. Non-compliance

If the academy fails to comply with the terms and conditions set out in this document, the Secretary of State may recover some or all of the RP grant funding that has been allocated. The academy will be notified of this in writing.

10. Overpayments

If an academy identifies that it has been overpaid, it must contact ESFA to arrange repayment of the excess. Where ESFA identifies an overpayment, it may seek to recover the excess. The academy will be notified of this in writing.

11. Further information

The books, other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts (for the purposes of this grant ‘recipient’ is the academy) 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 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 these terms and conditions. Failure to provide this information may result in the Secretary of State withholding subsequent instalments of RP grant.