Guidance

EFA e-bulletin for academies: 3 July 2014

Published 3 July 2014

This guidance was withdrawn on

This is an old edition of the EFA e-bulletin, so has been archived. Please view our most recent e-bulletins and web pages for up-to-date information.

1. Action: academies budget forecast return - new online form

Education Funding Agency (EFA) has published a new online form and an accompanying guide for you to use to submit your budget forecast returns due by 31 July.

The new online form includes some in-built data validation checks which will help minimise error and requests for additional information. If you have not already completed your return, then you should use the online form. If you have started the Excel template, then you can opt to transfer information to the online form, or submit via Deloitte OnLine in the Excel template.

New academy trusts whose budget forecasts are due later than 31 July will need to use the online form instead of the Excel spreadsheet.

2. Action: online training for academies on financial returns and framework

Registration is open for the financial framework webinars on 15 July at 11am (for academies) and 2pm (for auditors). At these webinars you will have the opportunity to ask specific questions about the academies financial framework, including the academies financial handbook and the accounts direction.

You can submit questions in advance when you register. Please view the narrated presentations before the webinars, which will be published by 10 July.

You can also view the recent narrated presentations and webinars to help you with your budget forecast return, due 31 July.

3. Information: 16 to 19 accountability

The EFA 16 to 19 accountability policy for 16 to 19 education and training as it applies for the 2014 to 2015 academic year has been published on GOV.UK.

It covers minimum standards, inspection and financial health and control.

4. Information: risk protection arrangement (RPA) opt-in

If you are planning to opt in to the risk protection arrangement (RPA) at any point between 1 September 2014 when the scheme starts and 1 August 2015 you can do this straight away via the RPA opt-in form on GOV.UK.

If you opt in to become a member of the scheme from 1 September, your funding adjustment will be made in November.

Maintained schools and other projects working towards academy opening can opt in to join the RPA to start from the point of the academy opening by confirming this with their DfE project lead or lead contact.

If you opt in to join the scheme anytime from 1 October, your funding adjustment will be made in the subsequent month. Academies opening on 1 October and after will usually have their payments adjusted from the point of opening.

The benefits to academy trusts of the RPA include:

  • opting in to RPA is a simple, once-only activity
  • RPA eliminates complex and time-consuming procurement of commercial insurance cover
  • funding for RPA is a £25 per pupil reduction in GAG payments and there is no need to submit claims for additional funding

As there will be no additional or top-up funding for commercial insurance procured from 1 September 2014 or after an academy’s existing arrangements come to an end, EFA encourages all existing and newly opening academies to opt in to the RPA.

5. Information: UIFSM (Universal Infant Free School Meals)

From September 2014 all pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state-funded schools in England will be eligible for free school meals. This will include academies, free schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision, as well as maintained schools.

You will find the provisional full-year revenue funding allocationsfor 2014 to 2015 on GOV.UK.

If you need advice about or support in delivering free school meals to all infants from September, there is a free implementation support service run by school food experts which you can contact on 0800 680 0080 or by emailing the Children’s Food Trust.

More information is available on the Children’s Food Trust website.

6. Information: announcement of GCSE plans and further education (FE) workforce strategies

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock MP has announced the government’s plans for strengthening existing GCSEs in English and maths in post-16 education and replacing them with reformed GCSEs in these subjects.

You can read the written ministerial statement and the press notice on GOV.UK.

Alongside this announcement the government has also published the FE Workforce Strategy and an equality analysis to assess the impact of changing the 16 to 19 funding condition from August 2015 for students without a good pass in English and maths.

7. Information: 16 to 25 high needs funding arrangements

EFA has recently updated a number of sections in the 16 to 25 high needs funding arrangements: additional information for the 2014 to 2015 academic year document, which was last published in May. The latest version lists all the updates and changes made since the last edition in the introduction pages.

8. Information: asbestos management in schools outside local authority control

The Health and Safety Executive has published a report on inspections of 153 schools outside local authority control in England, Scotland and Wales.

This included foundation, voluntary aided, independent, academy and free schools. The inspection project assessed compliance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

9. Action: sign up for alerts about newly published information

You can sign up for emails alerting you to newly-published content by EFA on GOV.UK.

You can choose to have immediate alerts, or daily or weekly digests.

It is not possible to specify the type of content you get alerts about (such as academies or post-16), but we estimate in most weeks there are between 5 and 10 updates.

10. Information: Headteacher Board elections open

Elections are now under way for elected members of Headteacher Boards, which will advise and challenge the Regional Schools Commissioner in their area.

A voting pack with candidates’ details for each region has been sent to every academy including free schools, UTCs and studio schools. All academies which were open on 1 May are eligible to vote by post or online, until 5pm on 11 July.

11. Information: support for building school alumni communities

Future First is a UK social mobility charity that works to build alumni communities around state schools to encourage former pupils to act as career and education role models, e-mentors, volunteers, fundraisers, governors or work experience providers. Future First has also produced fundraising guidance for schools.