Guidance

Mainstream schools additional grant 2023 to 2024

Guidance for schools and local authorities on the mainstream schools additional grant for 2023 to 2024.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

The guidance is for:

  • local authorities

  • school leaders

  • governing bodies and their representatives

It relates to local authority mainstream schools and academies in England.

Conditions of grant

This guidance sets out the terms and conditions applied to the mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG) allocations and payments to mainstream schools for the financial year beginning April 2023.

Methodology

This guidance will help local authorities and schools understand how the MSAG is calculated for 2023 to 2024 and how this will be paid to maintained schools and academies.

Allocations

In spring 2023, we published the MSAG school level allocations which detailed the total allocation and the first payment amount.

In October 2023, we published the second MSAG school level allocations which details the second payment amount.

In February 2024, we published the second MSAG school level allocations for new and growing schools that have opened in the past 7 years and are still adding year groups in the 2023 to 2024 academic year, and the first MSAG allocation for schools that opened in September 2023.

Payments

We made a first payment of MSAG to local authorities in April 2023 and to academies in May 2023.

We will make a second payment to local authorities in October 2023 and a second payment to academies in November 2023. These second payments will cover September 2023 to March 2024.

In March 2024, we will make the second payment of MSAG allocations for new and growing schools (that is, schools that have opened in the past 7 years and are still adding year groups in the 2023 to 2024 academic year).

In recognition of the funding cycle for academies, which follows the academic year (rather than the financial year used for local authority maintained schools), academies will receive an additional allocation of the MSAG to cover April to August 2024.

Further details

You can find out more about the dedicated schools grant (DSG) settlement for 2023 to 2024.

Published 16 December 2022
Last updated 26 February 2024 + show all updates
  1. We have published the second MSAG school level allocations for new and growing schools that have opened in the past 7 years and are still adding year groups in the 2023 to 2024 academic year, and the first MSAG allocation for schools that opened in September 2023.

  2. We have published the second 'Mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG) school level allocations second payment 2023 to 2024' spreadsheet. We have also updated the 'Methodology' guidance to advise that new and growing schools will receive the second payment of MSAG allocations by March 2024.

  3. We have updated the local authority level allocations to include the actual mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG) allocations as published on 26 April.

  4. Mainstream schools additional grant 2023 to 2024: conditions of grant for local authorities added to page Mainstream schools additional grant 2023 to 2024: methodology has been updated in sections 1 and 3. Mainstream schools additional grant school level allocations first payment 2023 to 2024 document has been added to page. Mainstream schools additional grant 2023 to 2024 - we have updated the landing page to include a section on 'Mainstream schools additional grant 2023 to 2024: conditions of grant for local authorities' and we have also updated information in the 'Allocations' section.

  5. We've added the mainstream schools additional grant calculator and supporting guidance.

  6. First published.