Correspondence

EFA e-bulletin for academies: 29 September 2016

Published 29 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This correspondence was withdrawn on 20 December 2019

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.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: high needs funding arrangements 2017 to 2018

We’ve published the operational guide setting out arrangements for high needs funding in 2017 to 2018. This includes a summary of key dates and deadlines and what you need to do for 2017 to 2018.

We’ll publish more detail about the process for local authorities to request changes to place numbers in EFA-funded institutions in October 2016.

2. Reminder: autumn school census 2016

The autumn school census 2016 opens on 6 October. The deadline for approved submissions is 2 November and the database will close to schools and local authorities on 30 November.

A beta release of the autumn census live COLLECT will be available until 4pm on Friday 30 September 2016. This will be removed after this date. We strongly recommend that, where possible, all academies take the chance to load a file output from their management information system (MIS) into COLLECT.

You can also view a series of school census videos for background about the census. This includes funding implications of the census and useful tips about how to prepare for the census.

3. Reminder: sub-contracting controls for schools and academies

In July we published the post-16 sub-contracting controls guidance for 2016 to 2017. This includes notice of a significant new restriction that applies to maintained schools and academies that sub-contract the whole of a student’s programme to a third party.

Any school or academy with whole programme sub-contracting arrangements for 2016 to 2017 must inform EFA of those arrangements by the end of September 2016.

In addition, schools or academies wishing to continue to wind down those arrangements for 2017 to 2018 should set out their case to EFA for approval. We will consider any whole programme sub-contracted provision in 2017 to 2018 that has not been approved for wind down to be ineligible for funding.

Schools or academies wishing to respond to this requirement should do so using the EFA enquiry form.

4. Reminder: school admissions timetable

As set out in the Schools Admission Code 2014, the timetable for consultation and determination of admission arrangements is that:

• consultation should take place between 1 October and 31 January
• you must determine your admission arrangements by 28 February
• you must send a copy of your determined admission arrangements to your local authority by 15 March
• the deadline for objections to the Schools Adjudicator is 15 May

Please note, you must consult when you change your admission arrangements or if you have not consulted within the past 7 years.

5. Information: workload challenge funding for schools

The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) is offering grant funding of up to £30,000 to support schools in developing sustainable solutions to teacher workload.

NCTL invites groups of schools to work with academic researchers to develop and test practical approaches to the recommendations of the recent independent teacher workload review group reports. These cover marking, planning and resources and data management.

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 9 November 2016.

You can also read the Teaching Blog, which includes examples of effective practice to reduce teachers’ unnecessary workload.