EFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 22 September 2016
Published 22 September 2016
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-e-bulletin-22-september-2016-issue-142/efa-e-bulletin-for-schools-colleges-local-authorities-and-other-16-to-19-providers-22-september-2016
1. 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.
2. Action: local authorities to submit grant return and use of funds statement by 24 October 2016
Local authorities are required to upload their grant return and use of funds statement for 2015 to 2016 by 24 October 2016 using EFA Information Exchange.
The guidance on GOV.UK explains how to upload your grant return and use of funds statement to EFA Information Exchange. These should be signed by your chief financial officer.
3. 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.
4. 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
5. 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.