Correspondence

EFA e-bulletin for academies: 21 January 2016

Published 22 January 2016

This correspondence was withdrawn on 20 December 2019

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.

1. Reminder: publication of accounts on academy trusts’ websites

Academy trusts, including free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges, must publish their accounts in full for the period ending 31 August 2015 on their websites.

This is set out in section 1.6 of the Academies Accounts Direction.

Accounts should be published as soon as they are signed, but no later than 31 January 2016. Providing a link to the Companies House website is not sufficient: the trust’s full accounts must be published on the trust’s own website.

Trusts should retain accounts in respect of at least the previous 2 years on websites. Accounts for the period ending 31 August 2014 should remain on the website when the accounts for 31 August 2015 are uploaded.

2. Action: spring school census 2016

The spring school census 2016 day is 21 January 2016.

Don’t forget to make your return by Wednesday 17 February 2016.

Further information on school census returns is available on GOV UK.

3. Reminder: risk protection arrangement (RPA) - risk management survey

Please would RPA members complete the risk management survey. The survey aims to establish the standard of risk management in academies that have joined the RPA.

4. Information: risk protection arrangement (RPA) - consultation

All academies, free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges (UTCs) can opt into the risk protection arrangement (RPA) as an alternative to insurance.

The Department for Education is seeking views on proposed changes to the RPA from September 2016.

This consultation closes on 31 January 2016.

5. Information: traineeships

The government recently announced that from 1 August 2016 it will remove the requirement that providers must be graded ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted to deliver traineeships. This puts traineeships on par with other further education (FE) provision.

To give providers greater flexibility, this change will now apply from 1 February 2016.

Providers will be able to deliver traineeships ahead of the 2016 to 2017 academic year if they have:

• an existing funding allocation

• the appropriate contractual arrangements

For the academic year 2016 to 2017 all EFA funded providers will be eligible to deliver traineeships from their 2016 to 2017 funding allocations.

6. Information: EFA online calendar

This is a reminder that you can find information about the EFA business cycle in our online calendar. This covers EFA deadlines and tasks that you need to complete. You can also filter, print and download events.

The calendar is available on EFA Information Exchange. It replaces the EFA wall-planner on GOV.UK.

When using the calendar, please remember to choose your organisation type. This will make sure you can view the most relevant items for you. To do this, select the relevant audience from the menu on the left side of the screen and press ‘apply’. If you haven’t selected an audience type, you won’t be able to see any calendar items.

More information about accessing EFA Information Exchange is available on GOV.UK.

7. Reminder: statutory monitoring and moderation arrangements for primary assessments

Please submit details of arrangements for the monitoring of national curriculum tests and moderation of teacher assessment using the online form. This should be submitted to the Standards and Testing Agency by Friday 29 January 2016.

For any queries email the Standards and Testing Agency.

8. Information: safer recruitment pre-appointment checks

From 18 January 2016, schools can use the Employer Access (EA) online service to identify restrictions imposed by all authorities in the European Economic Area (EEA).

This service is in addition to the teacher prohibition pre-appointment checks. These are detailed in part 3 of the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance.

Restrictions imposed by another EEA authority do not prevent an individual from taking up teaching positions in England. However, schools should consider the circumstances leading to the restriction when considering a candidate’s suitability. The EA online service explains how to get further information about EEA restrictions.

The EA Online service will be updated in late February to include a separate EEA sanction list. In the meantime schools should access the ‘teachers prohibited from the profession’ list to check EEA authority restrictions in force.

You can’t use the general search function to identify these restrictions. The EA online service will only identify EEA sanctions made after 18 January 2016.