Correspondence

EFA e-bulletin for academies: 11 February 2016

Published 12 February 2016

This correspondence was withdrawn on

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-e-bulletin-11-february-2016-issue-118/efa-e-bulletin-for-academies-11-february-2016

1. Action: 2016 spring school census

The deadline for approved submissions for the spring census is Wednesday 17 February 2016. We sent an email on Friday 5 February to clarify the requirements for the childcare module on the 2016 spring census.

Further information on submitting your spring census return is on the school census website.

2. Information: 2016 to 2017 academy funding allocations guidance

We have published 2016 to 2017 funding allocations guidance for mainstream, special and alternative provision academies and free schools.

We will begin issuing 2016 to 2017 final allocations towards the end of February. All academies open up to and including 1 January 2016 will receive their allocations by the end of March 2016.

3. Information: pupil number adjustment methodology for 2015 to 2016

For academies funded on estimated pupil numbers, we have published the methodology for pupil number adjustment (PNA) for 2015 to 2016. We will send statements to academies in scope by mid-May.

4. Information: updated severance payments form

We have updated the severance payments form for academy trusts wishing to seek approval for non-contractual payments over £50,000.

The main changes to the form are:

  • that you need to include a financial assessment
  • that you are required to demonstrate that all alternative options (such as redundancy and a performance improvement process) have been explored before deciding on a non-contractual severance payment.

If you have queries about making severance payments, please discuss these with your professional advisers (eg HR or legal representatives), and review the severance payments guidance and section 3.7 of the Academies Financial Handbook.

5. Reminder: students with GCSE maths and/or English at grade D

Full-time students who have a grade D GCSE in either maths or English must be enrolled on GCSE or an approved IGCSE qualification. This came into effect from 1 August 2015.

Full-time students with a grade D will not qualify for funding if they are enrolled on stepping stone qualifications.

Full-time students are those on a study programme of:

  • at least 540 planned hours if aged 16 and 17
  • at least 450 hours if aged 18

Part-time students can continue to enrol on stepping stone qualifications. Further information on 16 to 19 funding: maths and English condition of funding is available on GOV.UK.

Individualised Learner Record (ILR) users can run Funding Information System (FIS) reports to check that their students are compliant with this requirement.

School census users can use the interactive tool to help understand how their school census data is used.

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