ESFA Update academies: 22 July 2020
Published 22 July 2020
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2020
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-22-july-2020/esfa-update-academies-22-july-2020
1. Latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Department for Education has published guidance about COVID-19 in educational settings for staff, parents and carers, pupils and students on GOV.UK.
Please check GOV.UK regularly for updates.
2. Information: Letter from Eileen Milner to academy trust accounting officers
ESFA’s chief executive, Eileen Milner, has written a letter to academy trust accounting officers.
The letter includes information about further actions ESFA is taking in relation to academy trusts’ financial management during COVID-19. It also draws attention to information to help academy trusts maintain sound governance, good financial systems and a healthy and safe school environment.
3. Information: schools funding arrangements 2021 to 2022
On Monday 20 July, the Minister of State for School Standards made a written statement setting out the key aspects of the schools, high needs and central school services national funding formulae (NFF) for 2021 to 2022.
Provisional 2021 to 2022 NFF allocations tables and technical notes have been published, along with the NFF policy document detailing changes. The school-level provisional allocations have also been published in an on-line tool.
We have written to our contacts at local authorities to let them know that we have published the schools operational guide for 2021 to 2022 for them to progress their planning.
We have also published an analysis of the formulae which local authorities have used to distribute their schools block allocations to schools in their area, in the current year 2020 to 2021
4. Information: revised guidance for the 2020 to 2021 academic year delivery of industry placements, capacity and delivery fund
As a consequence of the impact COVID-19 has had on delivery of industry placements and the ability of providers to build capacity in the second half of the 2019 to 2020 academic year, the industry placement delivery target has been reduced to 25% of qualifying students for the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
ESFA will also allow delivery across two academic years where students commence a two-year programme beginning in 2020 to 2021 and where a minimum of 50% of placements are successfully completed by the end of the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Further information can be found on GOV.UK.
All providers with a capacity and delivery fund allocation will receive a letter outlining their 2020 to 2021 academic year delivery targets and the required level 2 and level 3 split.
5. Information: updated 2019 to 2020 dedicated schools grant allocations
We have updated the 2019 to 2020 dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to reflect the final allocations for the early years block.
We have also updated the high needs: allocated place numbers for 2019 to 2020.
6. Information: updated 2020 to 2021 dedicated schools grant allocations
We have updated the 2020 to 2021 dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to reflect
- latest academies recoupment data including academy conversions as at 1 July 2020
- the latest data on high needs places and import/export adjustments *updated allocations for the early years block using January 2020 census data
7. Information: guidance on the coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium
In June we announced a £1 billion catch-up package to support pupils who may have fallen behind due to lost teaching time as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This package includes:
- a one-off universal £650 million catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time. This funding will be available for all state-funded mainstream and special schools, and alternative provision.
- a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help.
Full details on eligibility, funding allocation, payments and use of the funds can be found in the guidance on the coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium.
8. Information: academies planning calendar
We have published the academies planning calendar for the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
The calendar provides a summary of key actions and dates about academy funding, finance and trust compliance with their funding agreement.
9. Information: academy complaints best practice guidance
We have updated our guide to setting up an academy complaints procedure . The updated information includes best practice guidance for academies and trusts about setting up and administering a complaints procedure that complies with the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2014.
We’ve also published model complaints procedures that can be adapted either for single academies or for academies in a multi-academy trust.