Information from the Department for Education
Following a high number of queries the DfE have wanted to give some points of clarification on certain areas in relation to the autumn census which is currently live.
Pupils from Afghan families
Pupils from Afghan families who have resettled in the UK should be recorded on the autumn census as pupils on the roll of the school (i.e.not guest pupils). These pupils should only be recorded on the census as being in receipt of free school meals if they are in receipt of a qualifying benefit and their eligibility has been verified.
It is not a requirement to have a National Insurance Number when first applying for Universal Credit. However, one will be allocated during the new claim process, which families will then be able to provide as part of their application for free school meals.
Schools and local authorities are able to access the Department’s Eligibility Checking System (ECS) to determine a household’s eligibility for free school meals. If the family is not able to provide a National Insurance Number, or if a parent feels that the result returned by the ECS is inaccurate, they may provide the equivalent paper-based evidence to their local authority or school to check.
A significant cross-government effort is under way, dubbed ‘Operation Warm Welcome’, to ensure Afghans arriving in the UK receive the vital support they need to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate into their local communities.
Families who need support navigating the system will also have access to liaison officers who can work with local authorities to help them get set up with a GP, National Insurance number, school place, accommodation and more tailored support, as required.
School-led tutoring 2021-22
If a pupil has not received or is not in receipt of school-led tutoring since the beginning of the autumn 2021 term, the fields must be left ‘blank’ on the census return. If the census shows this field as blank for all pupils, this will trigger 4007q which will be accepted by the Department if a ‘confirmation’ notepad entry has been provided on COLLECT. We will use the information collected from the school census returns:
- to allow the department to understand the impact this programme will have in future years
- for monitoring purposes to ensure that funding is being used to support pupils as intendedThe school-led tutoring grant is paid in advance and must be spent on school-led tutoring only.
DfE will recover any overpayments at the end of academic year 2021/22. We will use the data from the ESFA online form to calculate the total amount of overpayment and, if necessary, recover this, where a school or academy trust has:
- funded less than a school’s anticipated hours of tuition
- delivered the expected hours of tuition below the average £18 hourly rate
Further information can be found here