Guidance

Teachers' pension employer contribution grant (TPECG) conditions of grant for local authorities and academies: May/June 2023 payments

Updated 17 October 2023

Applies to England

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1. What is the teachers’ pension employer contribution grant (TPECG)

TPECG provides 16 to 19 related funding for institutions in the school sector to support the increase in the employer contribution to the teachers’ pension scheme that came into effect on 1 September 2019.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) pays the grant on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.

The terms and conditions in this guidance apply to the TPECG for the financial year beginning 1 April 2023.

Eligibility

The grant provides financial assistance to maintained schools and academies with sixth forms.

Funding

We include funding for maintained nursery schools and school nurseries in the Early Years funding formula; and (in relation to pre-16 costs) for schools, academies and non-maintained special schools in the schools, high needs (including independent settings) and central school services block national funding formulae (NFF).

We do not include TPECG funding, for institutions in the schools sector providing 16 to 19 education, in 16 to 19 funding allocations.

In the financial year beginning 1 April 2023 these institutions will continue to receive the TPECG, paid separately to core allocations. Institutions in the FE sector are covered by the FE providers TPECG.

We pay the grant to local authorities in May for maintained schools with sixth forms, and in June to academies.

We will set out the TPECG rates and eligibility for the period 1 April 2023 to August 2023 in the TPECG methodology.

2. Allocation and payment to institutions not covered by funding formulae

2.1 Local authorities must pay, to each maintained school with 16 to 19 provision, the amounts shown in the ‘mainstream schools’ tab for each school in the allocations table. These will be:

  • maintained secondary schools for their 16 to 19 provision only
  • all through maintained schools for their 16 to 19 provision only
  • 16 to 19 maintained schools

2.2 Local authorities must comply with condition 2.1 irrespective of any deficit relating to the expenditure of the school’s budget share.

2.3 TPECG is not part of schools’ budget shares and is not part of the individual schools budget. It is not to be counted for the purpose of calculating the minimum funding guarantee.

2.4 ESFA will pay the TPECG direct to academies.

3. Permitted use of TPECG funds

3.1 Local authorities must ensure the relevant maintained schools only spend TPECG funds for either of the following reasons:

  • for the purposes of the school
  • for the benefit of pupils registered at other maintained schools, pupil referral units or hospital schools

3.2 TPECG funds do not have to be spent, by the 16 to 19 education provider receiving the grant, in the financial year beginning 1 April 2023. Some or all TPECG funds may be carried forward to future financial years.

4. Certification

4.1 Each local authority will be required to certify to ESFA that they have complied with these terms and conditions.

4.2 ESFA will set out the arrangements for certification by 1 May 2024.

5. Variation

5.1 The basis for allocation of this grant may be varied by the Secretary of State from those set out above.

6. Overpayments

6.1 Any overpayment of TPECG by ESFA to a local authority or academy shall be repaid by the recipient upon such terms and conditions as ESFA or the Secretary of State for Education shall determine.

7. Further information

7.1 Books and other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts shall be open to inspection by the Secretary of State and by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

7.2 The Comptroller and Auditor General may, under Section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983, carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness with which the recipient has used its resources in discharging its grant-aided activities.

7.3 Schools, academies and local authorities shall provide information as may be required by the Secretary of State to determine whether it has complied with these conditions.

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