Emergency school improvement fund (non-capital)

Purpose

The emergency school improvement fund (ESIF) is available to:

primary schools
secondary schools
middle schools
all-through schools
alternative provision and special academies
local-authority-maintained schools
pupil referral units

It is intended to address:

unexpected or imminent failure
unexpected withdrawal of planned or existing support addressing failure or imminent failure
failure where other long-term support options are not feasible

Eligible schools can receive school improvement support from a multi-academy trust (MAT) or national leader of education (NLE). The MAT or NLE must have a Regional School Commissioner’s (RSC) or local authority’s support to apply for ESIF.

Applications can be made for short-term support while a longer-term sustainable solution is developed, for example through the support of a new academy sponsor.

Applications can also be made for longer-term whole school support where no other sustainable solution can be found to address the school failure.

Eligibility

MATs and designated NLEs of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools can make an application to support a school. MATs cannot apply for a school within their trust.

Schools eligible for ESIF:

Ofsted inadequate local-authority-maintained schools not in receipt of support via the academy conversion process and where there is strong evidence that immediate support is necessary
Ofsted inadequate academies not in receipt of support through a transfer to a new academy trust and where there is strong evidence that immediate support is necessary
Ofsted inadequate non-maintained special schools that have committed to the academy conversion process and where there is strong evidence that immediate support is necessary before conversion
Previously ‘outstanding’ maintained schools or academies not in receipt of support but judged requires improvement by Ofsted where there is strong evidence that immediate support is necessary
Maintained schools and academies not in receipt of support (either through school improvement, academy conversion or transfer to a new academy trust) where there is strong local intelligence to show that the school would be in imminent danger of being judged inadequate by Ofsted if school improvement is not put in place quickly

Apply

Applications must be made by a MAT or by a designated NLE from a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ school for an eligible school.

Applications must have the support of either the relevant RSC or local authority before they are submitted to DfE.

MATs and NLEs can email [email protected] for an application form and to submit the approved application.

In some cases, a RSC may identify eligible schools that need ESIF support.

Funding

We will issue a grant offer letter to successful applicants confirming the details of their proposal, funding allocation and terms and conditions.

We will only make funding payments to a verified trust or school bank account.

ESIF is subject to standard DfE grant funding agreement: terms and conditions but we may include additional conditions to the funding offer letter for successful applicants.

Reporting and accountability

The applicant will need to complete termly monitoring reports for the duration of the support and grant assurance at the end.