Funding Briefings for Academies

In a bid to keep all academies up to speed with funding, the Education Funding Agency (EFA) has launched a series of online presentations and webinars to show academies how they have calculated funding for the 2014 to 2015 academic year.

The Agency also held physical briefings around the country this month to update academies on the funding methodology for schools in the 2013/14 academic year.

The next steps in the reform of schools funding will build on the arrangements in place for 2013/14 and will come into effect for maintained schools in the 2014 to 2015 financial year and for academies in 2014 to 2015 academic year.

According to the EFA, a commitment was made to review the arrangements in place for 2013/14 and the findings of this review are available on the EFA’s website, together with confirmation of the changes that will be made for 2014/15.

Although the scale of change for 2014/15 is less, the purpose of the Agency’s online briefings and webinars is to help academies to understand how these will affect their allocations.

The Agency says that its aim in offering online briefings is to give academies the opportunity to access the briefings at their own convenience without the need to travel.

In addition to the chance to download the presentations, academies will be able to provide feedback and to view the responses to feedback provided by other schools.

Meanwhile, all new academy trusts and newly-opened academies joining an existing multi-academy trust should note that they must complete and submit a budget forecast return to the EFA within six weeks of receiving their final funding letter. This applies to anyone opening an academy or joining a trust on or after 1 April 2013.