Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 11 October 2023

Published 11 October 2023

Applies to England

1. Action: deadline this Friday 13 October to submit your 2022 to 2023 16 to 19 tuition fund spend and tell us how you have used your additional hours

You will need to submit a digital form if your organisation either received 16 to 19 tuition fund for the academic year 2022 to 2023 and/or received the additional hours baseline data report, which was based on returns your institution made in academic year 2020 to 2021. We supplied the additional hours baseline data report to you in June 2022. 

Please note that: failure to submit a report on 16 to 19 tuition fund spend will result in recovery of 100% of your academic year 2022 to 2023 tuition funding.  

We have produced a digital form so you can tell us: 

• how much tuition fund you have spent in the 2022 to 2023 academic year  
• what your institution used additional hours for and account for how you delivered the expected average increases in hours  

You will need to submit the form as soon as you can, and no later than 11:59pm on 13 October 2023.  

Access the digital form.  

Guidance on how to complete the form can be found on GOV.UK.

2. Action: 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 digital form 

The 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 opt in/out digital form second window is now live.  

The deadline for your submission is 11:59pm on 20 October 2023.   

We’ve published guidance to access and help you complete the form.   

You can read more on the 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 webpage. 

3. Action: register for a National Tutoring Programme webinar on tuition partners    

Schools can use the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) grant to contribute to 50% of tutoring costs.  

Later this week, DfE is hosting a webinar focused on the benefits of using a tuition partner.   

Please register using the link below.   

•   Friday 13 October - 12:30pm to 1:00pm   

This route may help schools that would benefit from external resource to coordinate and deliver tutoring to pupils. Tuition partners can also reduce administrative burden by helping schools plan tutoring, track delivery and evaluate impact.   

Ian Hepke, assistant headteacher of the Academy of St Francis of Assisi, shares his experience using The Tutor Trust: 

‘We’re really pleased with the outcomes we’ve seen and have had an overwhelmingly positive experience with The Tutor Trust, which has consistently delivered high-quality tutoring to our pupils.  

‘70% of tutored pupils either reached or exceeded expected grades in target subjects.’  

To compare tutoring offers from a range of quality-assured tuition partners, visit Find a Tuition Partner.   

4. Reminder: review hours for 16 to 19 qualifications and non-qualifications delivery before submitting your final ILR data return 

We have identified some areas in advance of the R14 ILR return that need reviewing where we can see numerous providers with potential errors in their data. To help you reduce your data errors at R14 and the chance of being selected for audit, please use the post-16 monitoring reports dashboard to review these reports: 

• FRM43 - 16 to 19 study programme students on qualifications with no planned learning hours (PLH) 

• FRM56 - 16 to 19 study programmes with PLH but no regulated qualifications 

• FRM69 - Proportion of planned employment, enrichment and pastoral (EEP) hours is greater than or equal to 50% of total planned hours and student is not identified as requiring additional learning support. 

You must ensure your PLH and EEP accurately reflect the amount of qualifications and non-qualifications activity being delivered in the current academic year. The PLH field must reflect the total planned timetabled hours spent on DfE approved qualifications only. A value of zero PLH is only returned if the learner is only participating in employability, enrichment and pastoral activities during the year. 

5. Information: update to the schools national funding formula for 2024 to 2025 

The schools national funding formula (NFF) was updated on 6 October and we sent an email with fuller details of this on the same day.  

The Department for Education (the department) published the schools NFF for 2024 to 2025 in July. However, the department uncovered an error made by DfE officials during the initial calculations of the NFF. Specifically, there was an error processing forecast pupil numbers, which means that the overall cost of the core schools budget would be 0.62% greater than allocated. The department has therefore issued new NFF allocations to correct that error while continuing to deliver, in full, the £59.6 billion core schools budget that has been promised.  

The recalculation of funding does not affect the total amount in the core schools budget in 2024 to 2025. Nor does it affect the high needs NFF, central school services block (CSSB) or other funding streams outside of the NFF, including the teachers’ pay additional grant (TPAG).  

Full details on the recalculation can be found on GOV.UK. 

 We have published an updated schools operational guide 2024 to 2025 to reflect the revised NFF.  

If you have any questions about this, please contact us via our enquiry form. 

6. Information: free contract management training for schools and trusts 

DfE is launching a new cohort for the Contract Management Foundation Training in autumn 2023.  

This free Cabinet Office Foundation Level training will provide schools and trusts with the fundamental principles of contract management.   

It is a flexible, online learning programme suitable for anyone responsible for buying goods or services for their school or trust, not just those in a specific commercial role.  

For further information and to express an interest, please send your name and job title to [email protected]  

7. Information: Cambridge and York school business professional (SBP) roundtables – spaces available 

There are spaces available at our Cambridge and York roundtables.  

If you would like to join other SBPs from across the region to network, share your procurement issues and priorities, and find out more about the free procurement support available from the DfE, book your place now: 

• Cambridge - Tuesday 17 October, 12:30 – 16:30 

• York – Tuesday 7 November, 12:30 – 16:30 

8. Information: are you a school business professional who buys goods and services for your school?  

The Schools Commercial team hosts regular webinars on how using DfE approved frameworks could help your school get value for money. Click on the links to find out more and book your place: 

• How the Get help buying for schools service can support your school buying 

• Buying cyber security for your school 

• Buying ICT for your school 

You can find the full programme of webinars for the autumn term on the Autumn 2023 webinar page. Visit the page to find out more and book your place.  

9. Information: how can School Resource Management Advisers (SRMAs) help you? 

In our latest Buying for Schools blog post, Lindsey Roberts, Engagement and Outreach Coordinator in the School Resource Management team, explains how DfE’s School Resource Management Adviser (SRMA) programme can support you with managing your school or academy trust’s finances or resources. 

“SRMAs are not inspectors, they work with you and your school or trust to help you get the best outcomes for your pupils.” 

To find out more, read Lindsey’s blog post on GOV.UK.