Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 22 March 2023

Published 22 March 2023

Applies to England

1. Action: complete your application for a senior mental health lead training grant

You can apply now for a grant to train a senior mental health lead.

You must complete your grant application for this financial year by 31 March 2023.

To start your grant application, visit the senior mental health lead training grant funding page.

If you have already completed part 1 of your application your grant is reserved. If you do not book a DfE quality assured training course and complete part 2 of the form by 31 March 2023, your grant may be reallocated to another school or college.

To complete your application, please visit the part 2 form guidance and complete the form.You can find further information and guidance on GOV.UK.

2. Reminder: final opportunity to register to deliver T Levels and the T Level Transition Programme from the 2024 to 2025 academic year

This is the final opportunity for providers not currently delivering T Levels to register their intention to deliver T Levels in the 2024 to 2025 academic year and receive implementation planning support. The registration portal will close at midnight on 24 March 2023.

Providers will require a DfE sign-in account to register and only providers not signed-up to deliver T Levels already should apply.

The registration portal and supporting guidance can be accessed on GOV.UK.

If you are instead planning to commence delivery of T Levels from September 2025, the registration process for this will open on 27 March 2023 and closes on 22 March 2024.
Current T Level approved providers do not need to submit a registration form to deliver T Levels.

If you have an enquiry regarding the registration process, or if you want to confirm you are registered, you can check the GOV.UK T Level provider list, or contact the [email protected] mailbox quoting your organisation’s name and UKPRN in the subject header.

3. Information: The PE and sport premium grant exception for current academic year 2022 to 2023

The PE and sport premium helps primary schools make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of the PE, sport and physical activity that they provide.
Given the need to make sustainable improvements, we acknowledged that during the pandemic recovery, it was difficult for schools to spend their funding appropriately. During this time, the department made an exception to allow schools to carry unspent funding between academic years.

Given the continued effect that managing recovery has had on schools, we have decided to extend this exception for the academic year 2022 to 2023.

In future, the department will recover any underspend of the PE and sport premium at the end of each academic year.

To support management of the premium, before the end of the summer term, we will launch a new digital reporting tool. This is intended to make it easier for schools to meet grant requirements in relation to publishing a report of spend.

4. Information: changes to the national non-domestic rates (NNDR) process for academies

In August 2021 ESFA announced changes to the NNDR payment process. The changes mean ESFA will pay business rates directly to the billing authority on behalf of local authority maintained schools and academies.

Like last year this change is optional for billing authorities, not all academies will move to the new payment process from April 2023.

We have published the NNDR payment process, for 2023 to 2024 for billing authorities and schools which confirms if your billing authority will implement the changes to the NNDR process from April 2023 or whether they will remain under the existing NNDR arrangements.

If your billing authority is implementing the new NNDR payment process from April 2023 you:

• must not pay your business rates bill to the billing authority, ESFA will do this on your behalf
• will continue to receive a rates bill from the billing authority, this is for information only.

If your billing authority is continuing with the existing NNDR arrangements for April 2023, you:

• must pay your business rates bill directly to the billing authority as per the previous year’s arrangement or as instructed on your rates bill for April 2023 to March 2024
• must claim your payment from ESFA (as in previous years) using the existing academies NNDR portal
• must contact the billing authority directly for any adjustment queries related to your rates bill.

For any NNDR enquiries please contact us using the ESFA enquiry form.

5. Information: visualise your school’s financial data: View my financial insights (VMFI) has been updated with the latest accounts return (AR) data

View my financial insights (VMFI), a free tool that provides visual information on the financial performance of schools, has been updated with data from the latest 2021 to 2022 academies accounts return (AR). You can log in now to view the refreshed metrics.

To find out more about VMFI visit our guidance pages. We are also running training webinars to demonstrate the key features of the tool and to offer the chance to ask the team questions. Sign up to one of our webinars using the links below:

• Monday 27 March , midday to 1pm
• Wednesday 17 May, 11am to midday
• Thursday 15 June, 10am to 11am.

6. Information: Shropshire and Telford school business professional (SBP) roundtable – spaces available

There are spaces available at our Shropshire and Telford roundtable on Wednesday 29 March.

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.

7. Information: helping schools and trusts to buy goods and services

Kevin Draisey is Head of Procurement Operations for the Schools Commercial Team at DfE. In our latest Buying for Schools blog post, Kevin updates on Get help buying for schools, and how state-funded schools and trusts can get the most out of this free service.

8. Information: 16 to 19 distance subcontracting requests

Lead providers that subcontract 16 to 19 provision are required to seek prior approval for the delivery of geographically distant 16 to 19 study programme provision where the delivery location is outside the lead provider’s normal recruitment area.

Previously, lead providers have been required to download a form and email it. From Wednesday 22 March 2023, we are piloting the use of an online form to submit distance subcontracting requests.

If you need to submit a distance subcontracting request, there is guidance available on GOV.UK. You will need to email [email protected] to obtain a link to the form, enabling you to complete it.

If you have any feedback on using the online form, please email [email protected]