Correspondence

EFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 26 March 2015

Published 26 March 2015

This correspondence was withdrawn on

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.

© Crown copyright 2015

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-e-bulletin-26-march-2015-issue-84/efa-e-bulletin-for-schools-colleges-local-authorities-and-other-16-to-19-providers-26-march-2015

1. Information: funding guidance for young people aged 16 to 19 in 2015 to 2016

Education Funding Agency (EFA) has published 2 key elements of the funding guidance for young people aged 16 to 19 for the 2015 to 2016 academic year.

There are small changes and clarifications in both documents from the 2014 to 2015 guidance. However, institutions should note one substantive change in the rates document that, from 2015 to 2016, the qualifying period for all students on programmes of 450 hours or more is 6 weeks.

2. Information: transitional protection of specialist provision for 2015 to 2016

Following discussions with the Association of National Specialist Colleges (Natspec) and the Association of Colleges (AoC), we will provide an additional year of protection, with up to £10 million available in 2015 to 2016.

Full details of how the scheme will work in 2015 to 2016 can be found on GOV.UK.

3. Information: requirements and advice for full-time enrolment of 14- to 16-year-olds in colleges

We have published the 2015 to 2016 requirements and advice for the full-time enrolment of 14- to 16-year-olds in colleges. This document allows institutions to plan for 2015 to 2016. There are no significant changes from last year.

4. Information: removing section 96 approval for level 3 personal development and/or transferable skills qualifications

Approval for level 3 personal skills qualifications for 16 to 18 and 18+ age groups is being revoked from August 2015. This will affect qualifications that only develop or assess personal skills in areas such as team working, communication or careers development. Further information and a list of affected qualifications are available on the section 96 website.

5. Information: students meeting the 16 to 19 maths and English condition of funding

We are providing information to all institutions that use the ILR, to show their students’ compliance with the maths and English condition of funding.

To access the information on the EFA Information Exchange, go to the ‘Other Submissions’ folder then look under ‘Academic Year 14/15’.

School and academies will not receive similar reports from the school census, because we do not receive this data during the year. However we encourage schools and academies to check their data to ensure all students who should be studying maths and/or English are doing so.

For those students not meeting the condition of funding, there is still time to enrol students on appropriate maths and/or English courses before the end of the academic year to avoid losing funding in 2016 to 2017.

6. Information: Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) outcome

The Minister of State for Schools, the Rt Hon David Laws MP, has announced the Condition Improvement Fund 2015 to 2016 outcome.

The announcement confirms funding of £367 million for 1,366 projects across 1,089 academies and sixth-form colleges. A further 79 projects have been asked to resubmit their bids.

We will provide feedback to unsuccessful projects by 20 April.

7. Information: changes to learner support schemes for 2015 to 2016

The schemes administered by the current learner support service will be made available online next term. The service will be known as the ‘Student Bursary Support Service’.

The online system will be easier to use, more accessible and responsive for educational institutions, childcare providers and for students. Further information about the changes is available on GOV.UK.

8. Information: Section 41 approved list of independent special schools and special post-16 institutions

The updated Section 41 Secretary of State approved list of independent special schools and special post-16 institutions will be published by 30 April 2015 .

The next application window for the list for independent special schools and special post-16 institutions opens on 8 May 2015 and closes on 19 June 2015.

After this application window the application process will move from termly to annually. Further information is available on GOV.UK.

9. Information: efficiency toolkit - new training modules

We have added 2 modules to our efficiency toolkit training videos. ‘Financial Efficiency in Schools - a Strategic Approach’ considers approaches to developing a strategic plan and is presented by Sam Ellis, Funding Consultant with the Association of School and College Leaders.

The second module is a discussion on workforce planning with Toby Salt, Chief Executive of Ormiston Academies Trust.

10. Information: EFA Information Exchange calendar

The EFA Information Exchange online calendar now lets you filter different entries by event type, download information straight to your own email calendars, and to print.

The updated calendar joins other features already live such as our growing suite of online forms, and the Document Exchange, which has been well-used during the allocations period. Future updates to the EFA Information Exchange include allowing users to amend their contact information.

More information, including how to get help accessing the EFA Information Exchange is on GOV.UK.

11. Information: post-16 national course database

The Department for Education expects all post-16 education and training providers funded by EFA to supply information about their planned study programmes from September 2016. This includes academies and maintained schools with sixth-forms, colleges and training providers.

A national course database will store the information. Any organisation will be able to use the information to help young people and their advisers make informed choices about post-16 options.

The department will ask you to supply your data from June to September 2015 and has published a post-16 courses database operational guide, which includes information about how you can prepare to submit your information.

12. Contacts

All 16 to 19 providers can get in touch with the EFA through the relevant territorial inbox, unless a different email address is specified in an article.

16 to 19 providers - northern territory

For local authorities, schools, colleges and other (non-academy) providers in north west, north east and Yorkshire and the Humber with queries for the Education Funding Agency

16 to 19 providers - central and south west territory

For local authorities, schools, colleges and other (non-academy) providers in south west, west midlands and east midlands with queries for the Education Funding Agency

16 to 19 providers - southern territory

For local authorities, schools, colleges and other (non-academy) providers in south east, east of England and London with queries for the Education Funding Agency

Academies should contact the Academy Enquiries Service.

EFA questions

For schools, local authorities, other education institutions and providers, accountants, auditors and other professional advisers with queries for the Education Funding Agency

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