The workforce fund for schools facing major Covid-related staffing problems has been extended to 8 April.
Headteachers have welcomed the move but warned that the eligibility criteria for being able to apply for this funding are still too strict, meaning many schools facing Covid absences will miss out.
The Department for Education initially reinstated the workforce fund in November last year amid rising Covid cases to provide financial support to schools, then extended it again to the February half-term break.
In an email sent to school leaders this morning, the DfE said the fund was available to support schools and colleges “facing significant staffing and funding pressures in continuing to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education to all pupils”.
It said the claims window for the fund would open in spring, although dates for this have not been announced.
The Association of School and College Leaders welcomed the extension but said the bar for eligibility to access the fund was set “far too high” and was “out of reach” for many schools.
To access the fund, mainstream schools must have a total teacher and leader absence rate at or above 20 per cent on a given day.
They are also eligible if they have a total support-staff absence rate at or above 10 per cent for 15 or more consecutive school days.
The criteria for special schools and alternative provision schools is slightly looser.
These must be experiencing either a total teacher and leader absence rate above 15 per cent on a given day, or a teacher and leader absence rate above 10 per cent for 15 or more consecutive school days.
Full guidance on how to access the fund and eligibility criteria is available on the DfE website.
Bar for eligibility is ’far too high’
Geoff Barton, general secretary of ASCL, said: “The support this fund gives to schools is badly needed to help them to plug the gaps in budgets left by the extraordinary expenses run up during the pandemic.
“However, the bar for eligibility to the fund is set far too high and requires schools to have below a certain level of reserves in order to qualify for support.
“That means the funding on offer is out of reach for many schools and it has always been our view that it should be made available as widely as possible and without so many caveats.”
Schools minister Robin Walker said: “As we learn to live with Covid, I know there are some schools that are still facing challenges with staffing, which is why it’s right we extend the workforce fund once again until the end of the spring term.
“Keeping schools open for face-to-face learning - as 99.9 per cent of schools have been this term - remains an absolute priority, and I am grateful for the hard work of all school staff in making this happen in the best interests of children and young people.”
He added that “enhanced ventilation and air cleaning units” and vaccinations all remain will help reduce transmission of Covid in schools.
