Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 18 September 2024

Published 18 September 2024

Applies to England

Action: Complete framework apprentices by Monday 31 March 2025

The Department for Education (DfE) will stop funding for apprenticeship framework completion and certification on Monday 31 March 2025.  Apprentices on frameworks will not be able to receive a certificate after this date, including if they have been on a learning break.

You should withdraw any apprentices still on a framework, unless they are due to complete their apprenticeship and be certified before Monday 31 March 2025.

There is more information in the completing and certifying apprenticeship frameworks guidance.

Action: Submit your 16 to 19 tuition fund end of year spend for 2023 to 2024 by Friday 11 October 2024

You must submit a digital form to tell us your tuition fund spend if your organisation received 16 to 19 tuition funding for the academic year 2023 to 2024.  

Failure to submit a report will result in the full recovery of your tuition funding for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.   

We have published guidance on how to complete the digital form.

You will need to submit the form by 5pm on Friday 11 October 2024.   

Action: Submit your national tutoring programme year-end statement by Thursday 26 September 2024

All organisations that received the national tutoring programme (NTP) grant for the 2023 to 2024 academic year, must submit a year-end statement. The deadline for submission is Thursday 26 September 2024, by 5pm.

Complete the form, even if you did not use any of your NTP funding. If you do not complete the form, your full funding allocation will be recovered.

Read the guidance on how to submit the year-end statement and access the form.

For any other NTP queries, email the NTP support desk at [email protected]

Information: Early years budget grant allocations for September 2024 to March 2025

We are providing £34 million in additional funding to local authorities in 2024 to 2025 to support early years providers with the costs of the September 2024 teacher pay award. This funding is part of the almost £1.2 billion announced by DfE following confirmation of the 2024 teacher pay award.

We will distribute additional funding for early years providers through a new grant, the early years budget grant (EYBG), in 2024 to 2025 covering September 2024 to March 2025. We have now published the EYBG methodology and operational guidance, step-by-step tables and conditions of grant.

We will publish local authorities’ allocations at the end of October 2024, and you will receive your allocation as a single payment at the end of November 2024.

Information: Adult skills and learning dynamic purchasing system is now available to buyers

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) RM6348 adult skills and learning dynamic purchasing system (DPS) is now live. Designed to empower public sector bodies to source essential training services quickly and simply, it will remain open until October 2028.

CCS has produced a video that explains how this new DPS functions for buyers.

To use the DPS, visit the CCS website which includes a full description and all the documents needed to run a procurement using the DPS.

Information: Post-16 schools budget grant

We published the methodology for the core schools budget grant in July to support schools with their overall costs, including costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay award, in the 2024 to 2025 financial year.

We will distribute funding for schools and academies with 16 to 19 provision through the post-16 schools budget grant.

We aim to publish the methodology by the end of September 2024, explaining how we will allocate the funding.

Conditions of grant and allocations will follow in October 2024.