Correspondence

EFA e-bulletin for academies: 22 September 2016

Published 22 September 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This correspondence was withdrawn on 20 December 2019

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.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. Information: academy land and building valuations

The land and buildings valuations for new academies that opened between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016, and those academies whose land and buildings have been revalued have been delayed.

The valuations will now be available on EFA Information Exchange in October. We’ll confirm their availability via this e-bulletin.

2. Action: new academy trusts intending to defer or submit dormant annual accounts

New academy trusts, including free schools, studio schools and UTCs, incorporated on or before 29 February 2016 must prepare their first annual accounts from the date of incorporation up to 31 August 2016. This may also include academy trusts that have not yet opened.

Trusts incorporated on or after 1 March 2016 may defer preparation of their first accounts to 31 August 2017. Trusts should discuss this with their auditors or professional advisors in the first instance.

If you plan to defer, or submit dormant accounts, you must let us know by completing the EFA enquiry form by 30 September 2016. You can find further information on page 6 and in sections 1.4 and 1.5 of the Academies Accounts Direction 2015 to 2016.

3. Information: traineeships

We have refreshed information for EFA providers about traineeships on GOV.UK. This is our annual refresh for the 2016 to 2017 academic year.

The changes are minor and include emphasis on the importance of progression in English and maths, and provide information on data recording for schools and academies.

4. Action: our email addresses are changing

From Saturday 1 October we’re changing Department for Education (DfE) and Education Funding Agency (EFA) email addresses. This means we’re removing the ‘gsi’ part that currently appears at the end of our addresses.

From this date, please change the end of any EFA email addresses that you use from ‘@education.gsi.gov.uk’ to ‘@education.gov.uk’. Emails sent to gsi addresses after 1 October will not be received.

Over the next 5 years, the government is phasing out ‘.gsi’ from email addresses. Many departments have already made this change. Our new non-gsi email addresses are as secure as the current gsi ones.

5. Information: answers to your EFA questions

If you have a question about working with us, we know it’s important that you get the answer you need as quickly as possible.

We’ve published some tips to help you find EFA information, including how to:

• sign up to GOV.UK alerts
• get instant answers to your questions using Knowledge Centre
• see key dates ahead using the online calendar
• submit an enquiry if you can’t find the information you need

6. Reminder: EFA communications - tell us what you think

It’s important to us that the communications you get from EFA are timely, clear, and easy for you to access. That’s why we’ve launched a survey to ask you about your preferences and what you think about EFA communications.

The survey is an important step for us to understand how we can improve the way we communicate with you, so please do take 10 minutes to tell us what you think.

We will be using all responses and suggestions to make improvements. Your responses will be completely confidential.

The survey will close on Friday 30 September.

7. Information: energy for schools webinar

As part of the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) collaborative Energy for Schools initiative with DfE, we’re hosting a series of energy efficiency webinars for schools.

The webinar will provide more information on the initiative, how to access our agreements, and the benefits that we can provide to your school.

Please register your interest for the next webinar session taking place on Wednesday 28 September 2016 from 12:30pm to 1pm.