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(1/9) With less than 9 days to go before the end of the college financial year, @ESFAgov has just published new information on how it will settle 2019-20 adult education budget allocations.
Our Deputy CEO @JulianGravatt breaks down the announcement... https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-22-july-2020/esfa-update-further-education-22-july-2020
Our Deputy CEO @JulianGravatt breaks down the announcement... https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-22-july-2020/esfa-update-further-education-22-july-2020
(2/9) Most colleges have already set budgets. This announcement combined with other uncertainties makes it inevitable that some governing bodies, principals and finance directors will make mistakes and be forced into quick decisions in autumn 2020 to keep their colleges afloat.
(3/9) Announcement on adult education budget confirms colleges will retain their 2019-20 allocation if they delivered 80% of activity in the whole year. This may seem low but unprecedented closure of buildings for 4+ months has meant that some won’t reach this threshold.
(4/9) Colleges made a successful shift to remote learning but this does not work for all types of courses and proved unmanageable at this late notice for some adult learners, particularly those who would normally start courses in the summer term.
(5/9) @ESFAgov will ask colleges below the 80% threshold to declare their costs but guidance won’t be out until August and the settlement is unlikely to be finalised until November 2020.
There are three more sizeable budget uncertainties for colleges…
There are three more sizeable budget uncertainties for colleges…
(6/9) Capital - There is still no firm news on how DfE will distribute the £200 million in college capital funding announced by the PM on 30 June. Colleges normally schedule construction work for holiday periods and will find scheduling a challenge because of social distancing.
(7/9) Funding in 2021- The delay to the spending review means colleges have no firm info on funding after April 2021. In recent spending reviews, DfE has sometimes made short-notice savings which reduce funds in summer terms.
(8/9) Uncertainty about recruitment - The difficulties predicting apprenticeship, higher and adult education recruitment mean that colleges can only guess what their income from these sources will be in the 2020-1 academic year.
(9/9) They've updated trusted systems for managing + predicting admissions but student decision making may change due to local lockdowns, transport and parent views etc. Colleges who enrol significantly more students hope @ESFAgov provides funding for exceptional growth.
