School Funding: Exceptional Costs Associated with Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Funding available to schools in England to help cover costs relating to specific items up to the end of the 2019 to 2020 summer term.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has set out the additional financial support it has put in place to ensure schools can focus on the vital role they are playing during the coronavirus pandemic. It covers support for schools up to the end of the 2019 to 2020 summer term.

There will be some instances where schools face additional costs as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and will not be able to cover these from their existing resources. This funding will support those cases.

Funding is available to cover costs relating to specific items judged necessary to allow schools to provide appropriate support to those children attending school during the period of partial closure.

There are three agreed cost categories against which applicants can make a claim:

• Increased premises related costs of keeping schools open over school holiday periods, for vulnerable children and children of critical workers
• Support for free school meal (FSM) children who are not attending school, other than through the national voucher scheme
• Additional cleaning, over and above existing cleaning arrangements, where applicants have a suspected or confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Claims must be made at school/academy level but can be submitted by individual establishments or collectively by multi-academy trusts on behalf of their academies (via a single claim).

Claims are welcome from the following establishment categories:

• Primary/secondary/all through maintained schools, academies, and free schools
• 16 to 19 academies and maintained schools
• Maintained special schools
• Special academies and free schools
• Non-maintained special schools
• Pupil referral units
• Alternative provision academies and free schools
• Maintained hospital schools and academies.

Mainstream schools will be eligible to claim up to £75,000 (depending on the number of pupils). Special schools and alternative provision will be able to claim up to £50,000.

Claims must be submitted by the 21 July 2020 deadline.

Full details…