Correspondence

ESFA Update: local authorities 6 February 2019

Published 6 February 2019

This correspondence was withdrawn on

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from ESFA in the latest ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Information: 16 to 19 school and academy sixth form 2019 to 2020 allocation calculation toolkits

We have uploaded 16 to 19 school and academy sixth form 2019 to 2020 allocation calculation toolkits (ACT) for most institutions to ESFA Information Exchange.

You will find your ACT file in the Document Exchange ‘Revenue Funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2019 2020 (2019 to 2020)’. Our guidance will help you understand the information.

Your ACT shows how we have used your data to calculate your funding factors, band proportions, students not meeting the condition of funding and students eligible for CDF Industry placement funding for your 2019 to 2020 allocation. For most schools and academies, ACT also includes lagged student data. Further funding information will be shown on your allocation statement.

Please do not submit a business case about your data until you have reviewed your 16 to 19 revenue funding allocation statement. The deadline for business cases is Tuesday 30 April 2019.

Please contact us using our online enquiry form if you have any questions.

2. Information: publication of evidence to support the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) consideration of the 2019 pay award

The Secretary of State wrote to STRB on 21 November, asking for their recommendations on the September 2019 teachers pay award. The letter stressed the importance of focusing on how the pay award can best address recruitment and retention challenges, while taking account of affordability across the school system.

The Department for Education has now published evidence to support STRB’s consideration of the 2019 pay award.

The evidence looked carefully at the affordability of any pay rise, and concludes that a pay increase for teachers of 2%, in line with forecast inflation, is affordable within the overall funding available to schools for 2019 to 2020, without placing further pressure on school budgets. This is supported by the government’s proposals to fund increases in teachers’ pension contributions from September 2019.

Schools will be receiving their individual budget allocations for 2019 to 2020 in February or March 2019, and when budget planning, should set aside funding to cover the pay award.