13 September 2018
The Department for Education (DfE) have this week released some useful spreadsheets which are aimed at helping schools become more efficient and to perform a meaningful self-assessment:
School resource management self-assessment tool
This tool can be used to reassure trusts they are managing resources effectively and to identify adjustments to ensure effective resource management.
It is an Excel spreadsheet and can be used to identify areas for change to make sure resources are used to support high-quality teaching and the best education outcomes for pupils.
The tool consists of a checklist and a dashboard. The checklist asks questions of governing bodies and trust boards in six areas of resource management:
- Governance;
- Trust strategy;
- Setting the annual budget;
- Staffing;
- Value for money; and
- Protecting public money.
The dashboard shows how a school’s data compares to thresholds on a range of statistics that have been identified by the DfE as indicators of good resource management and outcomes.
Schools financial efficiency: metric tool
A tool to provide schools in England with an indication of their efficiency compared with similar schools, based on 2016/17 data.
Separate spreadsheets are available for primary and secondary schools, together with a guidance document explaining how the metric has been calculated and how to use the tool.
The tool should be useful for Headteachers, Business Managers and trustees alike. The aim is to help schools improve their efficiency relative to other schools. After you have entered your data the metric provides an indication of efficiency, based on pupil attainment and the money used to achieve it, relative to statistically similar schools. The hope is that this will prompt schools to think about where they can become more efficient and how they could focus their resources to support measures to increase attainment. The DfE will not be using the metric as an accountability measure and it will not be used by the DfE as a measure of school performance, or in school inspection.
The hope is that schools will learn to become more efficient by producing more outputs with the same level of input; either by producing the same output, for example educational results with fewer inputs such as income; or by a combination of both. The tool makes use of the new Progress 8 scores to link the progress made by pupils to the level of income the school receives.
Academies will hopefully find the tools useful alongside other resources such as the Top 10 Planning Checks for Governors and benchmarking.
Here at UHY our academy specialists are frequently involved in discussions on improving efficiency, and we can assist you using these tools or help you understand and analyse the results should you require assistance. To speak to one of our specialists, contact your local UHY academy specialist or visit our contact us page.
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