Guidance

How to complete the high needs place change workbook

Updated 29 March 2023

This guidance was withdrawn on 28 December 2023

This has been withdrawn as it is out of date.

Find the latest guidance on high needs funding on GOV.UK.

Applies to England

1. About this guidance

This guide sets out how the workbook should be completed for local authorities requesting changes to their 2022 to 2023 high needs place numbers. It provides technical guidance for those who are completing and submitting the return. Refer to the guidance High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023 for further information about the high needs place change notification process and how the outcomes will be managed.

1.1 Changes to the workbook for 2022 to 2023

The workbook supporting the place change process is broadly the same as last year. However, the following new activity has been introduced:

• a column has been included in the ‘Place Change Notification (PCN)’ worksheet that confirms the status, as of 10 December 2021, of any ‘Deed of Variation’ (DoV) to the schools funding agreement with the EFSA (where a DoV is needed to support a proposed change)
• an error message will show on the ‘Hospital Education Template’ worksheet if data is entered into the template and you untick the check box
• columns have been added to the ‘Validation’ worksheet to show a failed status:
  • if the DoV requirement on the PCN worksheet is not met
  • where data is entered into greyed out cells on the PCN worksheet

1.2 Expiry or review date

This guidance will be reviewed in autumn 2022.

2. Completing the workbook

This guide shows local authorities how to navigate and complete the high needs place change workbook. Local authorities must submit the workbook via the ESFA data collections portal by 12 November 2021. We may not consider submissions received after this date. Local authorities can download the workbook from the ESFA data collections portal. We have contacted local authority designated users with information on how to access the workbook. If you’re not sure who the designated user is for your local authority, please contact ESFA at highneeds.esfa@education.gov.uk. The workbook is only currently available as an Excel spreadsheet. We are looking at whether to change this in the future, to enable the use of other accessible communication formats. A 2022 to 2023 place change notification by a local authority must meet the requirements set out in this guide. To make an enquiry about completing the workbook contact ESFA at highneeds.esfa@education.gov.uk. Clearly set out the nature of the enquiry and do not email copies of your completed workbook, unless expressly requested to do so by ESFA.

2.1 General principles

To successfully complete the workbook, you should:

• for each entry start at column A of the PCN workbook and work along the row
• ensure the change is correctly recorded as either ‘agreed’ or ‘not agreed’ with the institution
• not enter data into greyed out cells
• only make one entry per academy, college, or other institution
• enter the total place numbers you require after any adjustment has been applied (where a change in the place number is required)
• leave the cell blank if no change is required (if ‘0’ is entered into the 2022 to 2023 revised place number columns, the final place numbers will be set at zero)
• ensure all validation markers show as ‘pass’ before submitting the completed workbook to ESFA
• ensure institutions are entered in the correct section of the PCN worksheet:
  • the first section is for new or existing ESFA funded institutions with changes other than to current high needs places
  • the second section ‘change from current high needs places’ is for institutions funded for high needs places via ESFA in 2021 to 2022

2.2 ‘Cover’ worksheet

Enter the contact details of the person who is responsible for completing the workbook in the ‘Primary LA contact details’ section. This information will be used by ESFA if there is a query regarding your submission. You must enter primary contact details for the workbook to be accepted, however you may wish to include additional contact details in the second and third columns. ESFA also requires that the declaration on this worksheet is completed by the primary contact for every submission. If the declaration is not completed correctly, the submission will be rejected, and a resubmission will be requested. To successfully complete the declaration, ensure the following steps are completed:

• check the tick box to confirm your agreement to the statement included in the declaration
• insert an electronic signature or typed name into the section headed ‘Signature or typed name’
• enter the date of completion into the ‘Date completed’ cell

Director of Children’s Services (DCS) sign-off is only required where the hospital education worksheet is completed. Note that:

• this must be an electronic signature
• where this cannot be entered directly into the ‘Cover’ worksheet, a signed copy of the agreed declaration can be added to the designated cell K47 on the ‘Cover’ worksheet

The validation on this page will show as a ‘Fail’ if the primary contact details have not been entered. It will also fail if the declaration is not completed correctly - you must make sure the statement is ticked and a signature and date are entered. Additional information is included in the ‘Cover’ worksheet, giving a brief description of the areas covered by the workbook and hyperlinks to help navigate to the different worksheets. These are:

• ‘2021 to 2022 HN Data’
• ‘Place Change Notification (PCN)’
• ‘Hospital Education Template’
• ‘Validation’

2.3 ‘2021 to 2022 HN Data’ worksheet

This worksheet contains pre-populated details of the 2021 to 2022 high needs data (correct as of 1 October 2021) for those institution types that are in scope for changes from current high needs places. Refer to High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023 for the types of institutions that are in scope. Filters have been applied to allow you to search the data, but the worksheet is protected, and you will be unable to change this data. Details of any institution you identify as requiring a change in this worksheet, will be replicated in the ‘Place Change Notification (PCN)’ worksheet.

3. ‘Place Change Notification (PCN)’ worksheet

You should use this worksheet to notify ESFA of changes from the 2021 to 2022 high needs places and place values for academies with hospital education funding. Validation rules are built into the worksheet to ensure correctly formatted data is entered into the cells. In addition, the ‘Validation’ worksheet will highlight instances where information is entered incorrectly (for example, if data is entered into greyed cells or a UKPRN appears more than once). At the top of the worksheet is the current validation status (see the section headed ‘Validation worksheet’ for more details). This will show as ‘Pass’ if the worksheet is completed correctly. The worksheet is split into 2 sections depending on the reason for change:

• in the first section, local authorities must enter those institutions with the reason for change identified as ‘New Institution’ or ‘Existing Institution’, and select the relevant option from the drop-down list
• any ‘Change from current high needs places’ should be entered in the second section - entries input here must relate to institutions in the ‘2021 to 2022 HN data’ worksheet

There are 2 links at the top of the PCN worksheet that will help you to navigate between the different sections of the worksheet. For infrastructure changes (for example, mergers and amalgamations – including mergers across local authorities) more than one institution will be affected by the change. Each institution may fall into a different category (new, existing, or change) of the workbook depending on the status of that organisation. The following steps should be followed:

• each institution that will receive ESFA funding, and is affected by the change, will need to be listed separately in the workbook
• affected maintained schools that are not converting to an academy do not need to be included in the workbook
• each institution will need to be listed separately within the section appropriate for that school, whether it be a change from current place numbers, a new institution or a change to an existing ESFA funded institution that has not received high needs funding from ESFA in the past
• each institution should show the impact on its own place numbers within columns L to AX of the PCN worksheet
• the notes section for each affected institution should name all institutions (including maintained schools) impacted by this change and identify any closing and lead institutions along with any other information that will help ESFA to process the merger/amalgamation data

The workbook is designed so that when the reason for change, URN and/or institution type is entered, cells requiring completion will open and change from grey to white backgrounds. For each entry, start at column A and work along the row. The process for completing the 2 sections of the worksheet is set out below.

Section 1: ‘New institutions/Existing institutions’

The first section of the worksheet (rows 13 to 27) focuses on new and existing reasons for change in the academic year 2021 to 2022. Refer to High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023 for the types of institutions that are in scope. Use the ‘New/Existing’ link at the top of the worksheet (row 4) to navigate to this section of the workbook. Select the appropriate drop-down option in column A of the worksheet. You should select ‘New Institutions’ where institutions were not funded by ESFA as of 1 October 2021 but are within scope and require high needs place funding in 2022 to 2023 academic year. This includes:

• new SPIs to be funded for high needs places in 2022 to 2023 (subject to due diligence process)
• schools or pupil referral units that were local authority maintained on 1 October 2021, but will convert to an academy on or by 1 January 2022 and require high needs place funding in 2022 to 2023
• special free schools located in the local authority’s area that were not open by 1 October 2021 (and are not therefore included in the pre-populated data) but that are due to open on or by 1 January 2022

You should select ‘Existing Institution’ to notify ESFA of changes to institutions funded by ESFA on 1 October 2021 that are in scope of this data collection exercise but were not funded for high needs places in 2021 to 2022. Where such changes are applied, the schools existing funding agreement with ESFA may need to be amended to include clauses supporting the delivery of high needs. A signed and sealed DoV supporting this change must be submitted to ESFA by 10 December 2021. You should also complete the following fields for the proposed change to be processed correctly:

• ‘Has the change been agreed?’ (column B): select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (implications associated with these options are set out in High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023)
• ‘Deed of Variation (DoV) has been submitted to ESFA by 10 December 2021’ (column C): select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (implications associated with these options are set out in High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023))
• ‘Proposed date of change’ (column D): enter the date the template is completed (or a later date) and use the format DD/MM/YYYY
• ‘UKPRN’ (column F): this must be an eight-digit number (with no letters) - you can get this from Get information about schools (GIAS)
• ‘LAEstab’ (column G): this must be a seven-digit number (with no letters) - if unknown, leave blank
• ‘URN’ (column H): this must be a six-digit number (with no letters) - you can get this from Get information about schools (GIAS)
• ‘Institution name’ (column I)
• ‘Institution type’ (column J): select your option from the drop-down list linked to the cell (refer to High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023 for the institution types that are in scope) - by selecting the institution type the cells that require updates will become available (changing from grey to white)
• ‘Notes’ (column K): ensure that you supply sufficient detail to enable EFSA to process the change (for example, details of all institutions involved in a merger and for new institutions, contact details of the new provider must be provided such as their address, email and telephone contact information or full contact details of any new SPI’s)
• ‘UPIN’ (column E) is for Department for Education (DfE) use only and should not be completed.

Where needed, add 2022 to 2023 revised place numbers to the open columns in the table (columns L to AX). 2021 to 2022 numbers will not be pre-populated but local authorities can manually enter the 2021 to 2022 place numbers on which an institution’s 2021 to 2022 place funding is based, for information.

Section 2: Change from current high needs places

The second section (rows 30 to 120) allows you to request changes to high needs places for academic year 2022 to 2023 for any institution that was funded by ESFA for high needs places in the 2021 to 2022 academic year. Select this option where you require a change from the information listed on the ‘2021 to 2022 HN Data’ worksheet such as:

• a change in place numbers
• a change in the age range of the places to be available (for example, where a school was funded for pre-16 high needs places in the 2021 to 2022 academic year, but this now needs to be extended to include post-16 high needs provision, such as the inclusion of a new sixth form, for the 2022 to 2023 academic year)

The request to change the age range may need a corresponding variation to the schools funding agreement with ESFA. A signed and sealed DoV supporting this amendment must be submitted to ESFA by 10 December 2021. Use the ‘Change’ link at the top of the worksheet (row 7) to navigate to this section of the workbook. In this section of the worksheet several cells are protected, stopping you from entering data (for example, there is no drop-down option in column A and the reason for change is fixed). The following cells must be completed:

• ‘Has the change been agreed?’ (column B): enter ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (implications associated with these options are set out in High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023)
• ‘Deed of Variation (DoV) has been submitted to ESFA by 10 December 2021’ (column C): select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (implications associated with these options are set out in High needs place change process: academic year 2022 to 2023)
• ‘Proposed date of change’ (column D): enter the date the template is completed (or a later date) and use the format dd/mm/yyyy
• ‘UKPRN’ (column F): this must be an eight-digit number with no letters

When you enter the UKPRN, the institution details and place numbers will automatically populate the appropriate fields. This default information is retrieved from the ‘2021 to 2022 HN Data’ worksheet. In some cases, where a UKPRN is unknown or has not been assigned, it has been necessary to create a temporary UKPRN for the workbook to populate correctly. If you are unsure what the UKPRN should be, go to the ‘2021 to 2022 HN Data’ worksheet and filter by the school’s name. The temporary UKPRN is listed in column A.

Previously greyed out cells will change to white and open to allow you to enter data where applicable. If cells remain grey, then these columns will not relate to the institution type associated with the school and they should not be completed.

Enter the ‘2022/23 revised place numbers’ in the cell that you want to change. Only whole place numbers will be accepted. Enter the total number of places you require, not the difference between the new and old place numbers. For example, if a school has 13 pre-16 high needs places and a total of 20 places is required, enter 20. The difference between the new and old place numbers will appear in the ‘Difference in 2022/23 against 2021/22’ cell.

Where no change is required, leave the cell blank and the 2021 to 2022 place numbers will automatically roll-forward. If ‘0’ is entered into the ‘2022/23 revised place number’ columns, the final place numbers will be set at zero.

Columns AO to AQ calculate the total high needs places (excluding hospital education) for each institution. Columns AR to AW allow changes relating to hospital education place numbers and/or the per-place amount for academies only. The difference in place numbers and per-place funding when compared to 2021 to 2022 is calculated in columns AT and AW respectively. The calculations in these cells will only be displayed if the institution type in column J is selected. The total hospital education funding is calculated in column AX for each applicable institution.

A summary of all place changes applied to the 2022 to 2023 data are set out at the top of the worksheet in row 5, starting at column L.

3.1 ‘Hospital Education Template’ worksheet

This worksheet can be used to submit requests to change hospital education funding for 2022 to 2023 at a local authority level through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) high needs funding block. Use the Hospital education funding: guidance to help you apply for changes to this funding. If as a result of this change there is also an impact on the number of hospital education places to be funded at an academy, changes to the institution level allocations must be notified to ESFA on the PCN worksheet. To submit this request, you must confirm this by checking the tick box ‘Confirm funding’ in cell A4. This will release the form so all sections of the template can be completed. The ‘Confirm funding’ tick box should not be unticked if the template is completed. Where a change is required, provide:

• ‘Hospital provider details’ (cell A6): including NHS provider, the change in medical provision, date of change and confirmation that NHS evidence is provided
• ‘Hospital education provider details’ (cell A22): including name of education provider, education provider type, LAEstab (if relevant), current hospital education funding and the change in funding required - please also set out the impact of the change in medical provision on the education provision required in the additional information box at cell A35
• ‘Resources’ (cell A38): including a breakdown of additional resource required and associated costs - total funding will be calculated in cell C53
• ‘NHS evidence’ (A55): the evidence ESFA require is set out in the guidance attached to cell A59 - instructions on how to insert a document is set out in cell A66

3.2 ‘Validation’ worksheet

The ‘Validation’ worksheet has been added as a check for local authorities to ensure the workbook is completed correctly. Before submitting the completed workbook to ESFA, you should check that all values in the validation table show as ‘Pass’. ESFA will request corrective action and a resubmission where a validation result shows as ‘Fail’. Important points to note about the ‘Validation’ worksheet are:

• cell D2 gives the overall validation status of the workbook – this should show as ‘Pass’ before submitting the completed workbook to ESFA
• cell D4 and D6 show the final validation status concerning the ‘Cover’ worksheet with focus on the primary contact details and the primary contact signed declaration
• cell D9 indicates if the DCS signature has been completed by showing ‘Yes’ (the DCS signature is only required if the ‘Hospital Education Template’ worksheet is completed)
• cell D11 shows the status of the PCN worksheet—where this shows as a ‘Fail’, refer to row 18 - starting at column D - which gives the summary status for each column where data can be entered (where a ‘Fail’ appears search that column in the table below to identify the cell containing the error, this will be highlighted in red – the table below reflects the format of the PCN worksheet and you can use this to locate the cell that has been populated incorrectly on the PCN worksheet)
• cell D13 displays ‘Yes’ when the ‘Confirm funding’ box on the ‘Hospital Education Template’ worksheet has been completed

As with the PCN worksheet, links at cells A17 and A19 have been added to the ‘Validation’ worksheet to direct you to the 2 sections of the workbook relating to ‘New/Existing’ entries and ‘Change’ from current high needs places.

3.3 ‘PCN Lookups’ worksheet

The information contained in this worksheet is lookup data that supports drop-down functionality.