School Capacity (SCAP) Survey 2021 - Guide for local authorities April 2021 - GOV.UK
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School Capacity (SCAP) Survey 2021 Guide for local authorities April 2021
Contents 1. Summary ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Purpose of this document .......................................................................................... 4 1.2. Review date............................................................................................................... 4 1.3. Summary of guidance changes since SCAP 2019 .................................................... 4 1.4. Main points ................................................................................................................ 4 1.5. Use of the data .......................................................................................................... 5 1.6. Collection dates ......................................................................................................... 5 1.7. Need help? ................................................................................................................ 5 2. Accessing the systems and submitting your returns ........................................................ 6 2.1. Accessing the data collection systems ...................................................................... 6 2.2. Using the Excel templates to upload data ................................................................. 6 2.3. Using the QA checklist and output reports ................................................................ 6 2.4. Submitting your return ............................................................................................... 7 2.5. Director of Children’s Services (DCS) sign-off........................................................... 7 3. School Capacity ............................................................................................................... 9 3.1. Schools to include ..................................................................................................... 9 3.2. School capacity ....................................................................................................... 10 3.3. Primary and secondary capacity ............................................................................. 13 3.4. Sixth form capacity .................................................................................................. 13 3.5. Split site schools ...................................................................................................... 13 3.6. Capacity by year group............................................................................................ 14 3.7. Pupil Numbers On Roll (NOR)................................................................................. 15 4. Local authority pupil forecasts........................................................................................ 16 4.1. Basis for pupil forecasts .......................................................................................... 16 4.2. Housing developments ............................................................................................ 17 4.3. Future school changes ............................................................................................ 18 2
4.4. Split site schools ...................................................................................................... 19 4.5. Pupil forecasts from housing developer contributions (HDC) and Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) .................................................................................................. 19 4.6. Forecast methodology ............................................................................................. 20 5. Additional Places ........................................................................................................... 22 5.1. What places should be included .............................................................................. 22 5.2. Type of places ......................................................................................................... 23 5.3. Entering places in COLLECT .................................................................................. 24 6. Commentary ................................................................................................................. 26 Annex A – School Capacity .................................................................................................. 28 Capacity for maintained schools ....................................................................................... 28 Capacity for academy schools .......................................................................................... 28 Annex B – Sixth form capacity .............................................................................................. 32 Annex C – Recording Housing Developer Contributions ...................................................... 35 Annex D – Recording Additional Places ............................................................................... 36 Annex E – Common queries ................................................................................................. 38 Annex F – Glossary .............................................................................................................. 42 Annex G – School phase and governance codes ................................................................. 45 Annex H – Resources ........................................................................................................... 46 3
1. Summary 1.1. Purpose of this document This is departmental advice from the Department for Education. The purpose of this advice is to help local authorities understand the data required in relation to the School Capacity (SCAP) survey as defined in The Information as to Provision of Education (England) Regulations 2016. 1.2. Review date This advice will be reviewed in November 2021. 1.3. Summary of guidance changes since SCAP 2019 • Additional guidance on capacity for academies and the department’s pilot programme to carry out Net Capacity Assessments for academies (section 3.2) • Required new forecasts of places provided by Housing Infrastructure Fund (section 4.5) • The ONS core pupil forecast model and how it may be used (section 4.0) • Pupil yields publication and how it may be considered in your forecasts (section 4.2) • School census cross border pupil movement publication and how it may be considered in your forecasts (section 4.6) • Revised template for forecast methodology not submitted using COLLECT (section 4.6) • Clarification on recording additional places (section 5) • Changes to how we pre-populate some elements of your return following the cancellation of SCAP 2020 (sections 3 and 5). 1.4. Main points The guide will provide you with the information you need to complete the SCAP survey. The survey is split into 4 parts: 1. capacity 2. forecasts 3. additional places data 4. place planning commentary 4
Forecast, capacity and additional places data will be collected via the COLLECT system. Commentary should be returned on the provided template to the SCAP mailbox, SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk. This guidance document should be read in conjunction with the following guidance documents: • COLLECT Guides for Schools and Local Authorities • 2021 Guide to Forecasting Pupil Numbers in School Place Planning • Area guidelines and net capacity guidance. 1.5. Use of the data The data will be published in the statistical release, ‘School capacity: academic year 2020 to 2021’, due to be published in spring 2022. The release will also include place planning tables showing modelled estimates of places needed to meet future demand. The department may also use the data in the calculation of future basic need capital allocations, to aid departmental monitoring of local authority sufficiency and to support a range of policy developments and operational decisions. The data may be used in conjunction with other local authority surveys, such as the Capital Spend Survey and School Preference Survey, to support departmental decision making. Data may be used to answer requests for statistics, including Parliamentary questions and requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 1.6. Collection dates The SCAP collection will open on COLLECT on Monday 7 June 2021. You should start loading your data no later than 16 July and you should submit your data by Friday 30 July 2021. 1.7. Need help? • For DfE Sign-in you can find guidance on the help page. 5
• For issues accessing COLLECT, or any technical problems while using COLLECT, contact the Service Desk using the service request form. • For questions about this guidance or any issues you are unable to resolve email the Pupil Place Planning Data Team at SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk for advice. 2. Accessing the systems and submitting your returns 2.1. Accessing the data collection systems The data collection system, referred to as COLLECT, for all three elements of the data submission (capacity, forecast and additional places) is accessed via DfE Sign In. If you have issues accessing COLLECT, which cannot be rectified using the DfE Sign- in help page, or encounter any technical problems while using COLLECT, please contact the Data Collection Service Desk using the service request form. 2.2. Using the Excel templates to upload data Your data (capacity, forecasts and additional places) can be uploaded to COLLECT using the Excel XML templates provided. The Excel templates cannot be used to submit your data using email. The templates will be sent out in late May 2021 from the Data Collection Service Desk, via the secure School to School (S2S) system, to the nominated contact for your local authority. If you have issues with S2S you should contact the Service Desk using the service request form. 2.3. Using the QA checklist and output reports We have emailed you a QA checklist. This list provides a guide on checking your data before submission. It is not an exhaustive list and should be undertaken in addition to rigorous checking of the data as it is entered. Accurate data entry and completion of this list will reduce the number of questions that we may need to ask you. 6
COLLECT includes a reports feature which allows you to view and download output reports containing your data. The COLLECT system refreshes overnight, so any data that you input will not show on the output reports until the following day. You are advised to use these output reports in conjunction with the QA Checklist to help you address any issues with your data before submission. 2.4. Submitting your return You will be unable to submit your returns if you have not addressed all error messages. If you are unable to resolve any errors, please email the Pupil Place Planning Data Team at SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk for advice. We will be able to respond much more quickly if you give details of the error you are encountering and which school or planning area it relates to. All data must be submitted using the online systems. Email copies of the downloaded spreadsheets or output reports will not be accepted. Accompanying information should be emailed to the PPP Data Team at SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk and should include: • the commentary • the forecast methodology using the latest template (if not submitted via the COLLECT system). You should submit your data by Friday 30 July. Your return will only be considered complete when you have provided all elements. 2.5. Director of Children’s Services (DCS) sign-off You will need to arrange for your own internal review of your data before submission to us. After submission, we will Quality Assure (QA) your data. When this process is 7
complete, we will provide you with a template for DCS sign off. We expect DCS sign off to happen around December 2021, once the checks on all local authorities have been completed. 8
3. School Capacity The school level data within the school capacity return should reflect the position as at 1 May 2021. The school capacity return is submitted using the COLLECT system. To select a school in order to view the data and update the record click on the school name. This will highlight the selected school in blue. Then click the ‘Edit’ button. You can record notes in the system on certain data items, to help both you and us check that what you have entered is accurate. We will not be able to accept a return if you have not provided an explanatory note for all queries. If a note is to address a query, then please make sure the note is against the query itself rather than the data item. If the note is not sufficiently detailed or does not seem to match what the data shows then we will ask for further clarification. 3.1. Schools to include Survey returns must include all mainstream schools with capacity in any of the year groups Reception to Year 11 inclusive, as at 1 May 2021. This includes schools maintained by the local authority and academies (including free schools, city technology colleges (CTCs), university technical colleges (UTCs) and studio schools). Survey returns must exclude: • special schools • nursery schools and nursery units within schools • pupil referral units and alternative provision settings • dedicated SEN units within schools 1 • independent schools • 16-19 establishments 1 Further information on specially resourced facilities is included in the guidance Assessing the Net Capacity of Schools 9
The lists of schools on the capacity strand are prepopulated based on the lists confirmed with you in Spring 2021, and any updates we have been able to infer from information updated on the Get Information About Schools system. If there have been any updates to this list as at 1 May 2021, you will need to make them in the COLLECT system. For example: • For any listed schools that have since converted to academy status, please mark the existing school on the list as closed and set the value of the “Close existing school and preserve data to create a new school (overnight)” field to “True”. After the overnight update, the school will appear in the new school section and you can change the governance code and any of the other school details which need to be updated. • For any schools which have merged, you should mark one of the existing schools as closed. For the other school mark as closed and set the “Close existing school and preserve data to create a new school (overnight)” field to “True”. After the overnight update, you will need to update in the new school section the school name, establishment number, total capacity, governance code and capacity by year group to reflect the combined totals for both schools and any changes on amalgamation. • For any completely new schools (not including those created by academy conversion or amalgamation), please add these in the “new schools” section. You must complete all other data fields for the school, including the number on roll as at May 2021. • For any completely closed schools, mark them as closed. 3.2. School capacity The capacity information for all schools open at 1 May 2021 has been pre-populated using the capacity figures you provided in SCAP 2019 and any updates from the September Sufficiency Survey 2020. This includes academy converters and 10
amalgamations that we have been able to link to the previous schools. Please ensure that you amend these details 2 where they have changed since the last collection. Please report capacity as built at 1 May 2021 for local authority maintained schools. This should be based on an up-to-date Net Capacity Assessment (NCA) for each school, and not on how many children the school admits or the sum of deemed capacity by year group. If you are aware of an upcoming change to a school’s capacity, for example in September 2021, you should still record the capacity as at 1 May 2021 3. We would usually expect the capacity of an academy to be reported in SCAP based on the capacity recorded in the school’s funding agreement (this is usually based on the last NCA prior to conversion). Funding agreements can be found at https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables, under the workforce and finance section. Academies should also publish a copy of their funding agreement on the school website. You are expected to confirm capacity details with your academies to check they are up to date. In cases where an academy has repeatedly operated an admission number higher than the capacity figure in the funding agreement, and the local authority expects it will continue to do so, the academy’s capacity in SCAP should be reported as the 2020/21 Published Admission Number (PAN) multiplied by the number of year groups. A decrease in admissions reflecting local school demand but involving no physical change to the building, is unlikely to lead to a reduction in funding agreement capacity (see also recording capacity by year group) but should have been carried out in accordance with the Admissions Code. Where physical alterations are made to buildings which will reduce net capacity, academies should take action to amend the capacity figure in their funding agreements. A Deed of Variation (DoV) to the funding 2 You should hold up-to-date net capacity assessments for all LA maintained, Voluntary Aided (VA), Voluntary Controlled (VC) and foundation schools, as these assessments are a statutory requirement for the purposes of SCAP as defined in The Information as to Provision of Education (England) Regulations 2016. 3 If a building project due to open for September has completed before May, you don’t need to include this in total capacity, even though capacity is built. 11
agreement, must be completed by the academy/trust, in order to make the approved change legally binding. The department is also planning to run a pilot programme to carry out NCAs using an updated version of the NCA tool. This pilot will include academies in addition to maintained schools, and capacity data for all participating schools will be shared with the relevant local authority. Where a school has taken part in the pilot, we expect the school to agree the capacity figure to be reported in SCAP with the local authority. Where the capacity reported does not appear to take account of the new NCA, we may ask for further clarification to ensure we understand any difference and that your data is accurate. Further detail on the pilot programme will be provided later in 2021. We will not generally accept capacity figures that are lower than indicated by a Net Capacity Assessment or the funding agreement, as this indicates more pupils could be accommodated. We will only do so in exceptional circumstances and where the reduction in operational capacity is likely to be long-term, for example where a school operates below capacity for a period of time as part of a strategy to improve school performance. In such circumstances we would expect this to have been discussed between the relevant RSC, local authority, academy trust and DfE Pupil Place Planning team as appropriate; and we may wish to test this with you before this is reflected in the capacity figure. For further guidance on determining school capacity, see Annex A. For free schools, you should report the final intended capacity of the school as per the funding agreement, even if it is still filling up or based on a temporary site with limited capacity. For free schools that opened in September 2020, capacity information has been pre-populated for you from their funding agreement. We will only expect you to make changes to this information if you think this is incorrect or if there has been a change to the final intended capacity of the school. All open schools must have a value in the total capacity field. We would not expect a significant number of schools to lose capacity each year; as such, if a school has lost a significant amount of capacity since the last collection, we will ask you to add a note 12
in COLLECT to explain why. This is to help ensure that all relevant capacity is being reported and you have not made any errors in recording the capacity of any school. 3.3. Primary and secondary capacity Where the school has both primary and secondary phases 4, you must also complete both the primary and secondary capacity fields to show how the capacity is split between the two phases. The combined figures must equal the total capacity of the school. Please do not complete these fields for only primary and only secondary schools; if you do, an error will be generated. 3.4. Sixth form capacity Please make sure you include sixth form capacity in the total capacity figure for any school with post-16 provision. We strongly encourage you to report a figure for sixth form capacity. Where sixth form capacity is provided this can be used within the department to consider the impact of under-populated sixth forms. Where a figure for sixth form capacity is entered, we ask that you also select from a drop-down list the method used to calculate the capacity. Unless inappropriate for a given school, please report the sixth form capacity based on funding agreement or Net Capacity Assessment. If you choose to use another method, we may wish to query your reason for not using one of these two methods. For guidance on sixth form capacity, see Annex B. 3.5. Split site schools Where a school is split between different planning areas because it operates from different sites, all the capacity will be collected in the planning area of the main site against the LAEstab number. To ensure that school capacity can be divided to reflect this split in our modelling (and align with the forecasts provided), please email SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk to tell us how much capacity should be included in each planning area. 4 Where type of school is middle-deemed primary, middle-deemed secondary or all-through. 13
3.6. Capacity by year group Capacity by year group should relate to the number of places available in each year group as at 1 May 2021. Usually this will be the Published Admission Number (PAN) for that year’s cohort but may vary if accommodation was added later. Please include in this figure any bulge classes (whether they were added at the point of entry or later). If a small number of additional pupils were admitted over PAN through appeals, we do not require you to reflect this in the capacity by year group. Capacity by year group will be pre-populated using the information provided in SCAP 2019 and the September Sufficiency Survey 2020, rolled forward by one or two years (so 2019 Year 7 capacity will now be in Year 9, and so on). You will only need to enter capacity by year group for the missing year(s) of entry to the school, unless any changes have been made to capacity in other year groups. You must ensure that you record capacity for each year group from reception to year 11 that has pupils on roll. For new or expanded local authority maintained schools or academies filling up the built capacity year-on-year, please base capacity by year group on the final intended capacity for each year group. We will query capacity by year group which appears to show year on year growth of capacity in use rather than final intended capacity by year group. (For presumption schools that opened in September 2019 or September 2020, capacity by year group information has been pre-populated for you from departmental data.) Where school capacity is reducing, record the final intended capacity by year group. For free schools, you should report the final intended capacity by year group of the school as per the funding agreement, even if it is still filling up or based on a temporary site with limited capacity. For free schools that opened in September 2019 or September 2020, capacity by year group information has been pre-populated for you from their funding agreement. We would only expect you to make changes to this information if there has been a change to the final intended capacity by year group of the school. 14
We appreciate that the sum of capacity by year group (year groups R to 11 plus 6th form capacity) will not necessarily equal exactly the total capacity, for a variety of reasons. For example, an academy PAN reduction is unlikely to reduce the capacity in the funding agreement but will be reflected in the capacity by year group(s) total (see Annex A for further details). Or a bulge class accommodated in space not intended for long-term teaching, such as a library, should also be reflected in the capacity by year group total but may not increase net capacity. Where there is a large difference between the two figures 5, a query message will appear, and you will need to provide an explanation. 3.7. Pupil Numbers On Roll (NOR) The NOR information for each school will be pre-populated for all existing schools from the number of registered pupils on the January 2021 School Census 6. The final SCAP dataset (and hence our published tables) will use the more up to date figure from the May 2021 School Census. If you are entering details in the “new schools” section, you will need to provide the NOR for each year group for that school. This should include any Year 14 pupils, as recorded on the May School Census in 2021, so that this data will align with our final data set. Where there is a large difference between the NOR and capacity figures, a query message will appear, and you will need to add a note to provide an explanation. 5 We define this as a difference of 30 or more for primary, and 100 or more for secondary. 6 The pupil count includes sole registration and dual main registration. Part-time pupils are included on a head-count basis. All full-time and part-time pupils in designated nursery classes are excluded. 15
4. Local authority pupil forecasts We need forecasts of pupil numbers broken down by year group for each planning area in your local authority. Primary forecasts must extend five years ahead (2021/22 to 2025/26) and cover Reception to Year 6. Secondary forecasts must extend seven years ahead (2021/22 to 2027/28) and cover Years 7 to 11 (and Years 12 to 13 where schools in the planning area have sixth forms). We expect you to provide forecasts that are as up to date as possible. There is further guidance on forecasting in the Guide to Forecasting Pupil Numbers in School Place Planning, now including information on the ONS core forecasting model. When you upload your forecasts to the COLLECT system you should provide explanatory notes for any queries raised. If the note is not sufficiently detailed or does not seem to match what the data shows, then we will ask for further clarification. 4.1. Basis for pupil forecasts Your forecasts must reflect the actual number of pupils that you expect to have to provide a mainstream 7 place for in each academic year in each planning area. This should be based on the total number of pupils you expect will attend the schools in that planning area, rather than where pupils are resident. We will query any forecast methodology which appears to be based on residency. Forecasts should not include pupils attending nursery or special schools or pupils attending nursery or SEN units attached to mainstream schools. Where you have sixth form provision in secondary schools you will need to ensure that you have entered forecast data for years 12 and 13. If you expect any year 14 pupils these should be included in your year 13 forecasts. 7 This includes mainstream community, VA, VC and foundation primary and secondary schools, academies, free schools, CTCs, UTCs and studio schools. 16
Do not include a margin in your forecasts to reflect spare places that you need to manage in year admissions, mobility or parental choice. You can and should include in your forecast number your well-grounded expectations about pupils arriving during the year – not just reporting those coming through the main application process. Most authorities do this based on their past experience of in-year arrivals. The COLLECT data collection portal checks the forecasts for each year group in each academic year against the data for the same cohort of pupils in the previous academic year. For example, Year 2 in 2022 to 2023 is compared to Year 1 in 2021 to 2022. It also checks Reception and Year 7 forecasts to highlight any planning areas where there are significant fluctuations in these year groups from year to year. You will need to provide an explanation for any planning areas where the numbers differ by more than 15%, to encourage you to reflect on your forecasts and ensure that they accurately represent the cohorts you expect to provide a place for in each year. We also ask you to add a note to any planning areas where the forecast in the final forecast year is significantly different 8 from the current number on roll. This is to identify the areas where pupil numbers are rapidly rising or declining and to help us check that forecasts are robust. 4.2. Housing developments Your pupil forecasts should only include expected pupil yields from housing developments that have a high probability of being delivered within the timeframe of the forecasts. In most cases such developments will have full planning permission. If you believe a development that does not have full planning permission will proceed and will yield pupils within the forecast’s timeframe, we expect that development to be present in the relevant planning authority’s latest five-year land supply. Wherever this is the case we may test the suitability of inclusion of such housing developments in SCAP forecasts by reviewing evidence on the site’s deliverability and assessing delivery against previous five-year land supply plans in the relevant planning authority. 8 We define this as 10% at primary and 25% at secondary. 17
New housing developments may generate additional pupil forecasts, but you should be careful to avoid double-counting pupil yields which are already factored into your forecasts by default through cohort progression or migration (for example, where housing developments are built at a fairly stable rate) – see forecasting guidance for more details. Further data and guidance on estimating pupil yield from housing development will be published by the department in 2021, primarily to help you secure housing developer contributions. It is expected that local authorities will continue to use the existing parameters for new housing in their SCAP forecasting models, unless there is a demonstrable increase in the rate at which new housing is being delivered. In this case, an appropriate additional yield figure above that which is included in the forecasting models should be determined. The department’s pupil yield data may assist with these calculations and will be used by the department to check your assumptions. 4.3. Future school changes Where you are restructuring your school landscape (for example, from three to two tier education systems) you should record your forecasts based on the structure that will be in place in each of the forecast years. You should then record a return level note to notify us that a restructure is taking place. If you are expecting to introduce a new planning area in the future, you should record the pupil forecasts in the most appropriate planning area that currently exists. Forecasts of pupil numbers for existing schools must be recorded in the planning area in which they currently sit. You should forecast for new free school provision where you are confident that the project will go ahead and that it will affect the school landscape in your authority. Please include a note to explain where this is the case. 18
4.4. Split site schools Where a school is split between different planning areas because it operates from different sites, please include the forecasts for each site in the most appropriate planning area. To ensure that school capacity can be divided to reflect this split in our modelling, please email SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk to tell us how much capacity should be included in each planning area. 4.5. Pupil forecasts from housing developer contributions (HDC) and Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) Housing Developer Contributions (HDCs) include new school places secured from developers through Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy. A small number of local authorities have also received or expect to receive funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) 9 for the provision of new or extended schools. Forecasts of places to be funded through HDC or HIF should reflect the number of school places that will be created using this funding 10, or by developers in lieu of funding, from 2021 to 2022 onwards. HDC and HIF funded places should be included in your main forecasts but also reported separately in the relevant sections of the forecast template and on COLLECT. This will enable the HDC and/or HIF funded places to be split from the main forecasts for funding purposes. HDC and/or HIF funded places should be reported wherever the funding is expected or has been received. Places provided by any projects that will use such funds must be included. Where HDC funds have been received but not assigned to a project you should estimate the date of delivery and quantity of places to be delivered, and report these in the return. Where you expect HDC or HIF to fund places within the forecasting timeframe, but have not yet received the funds, the places the funding will supply should also be estimated and included in your return. The annual nature of the SCAP survey offers the opportunity to revise the forecasts in the future, should it become 9 Grant funding, administered by Homes England on behalf of MHCLG, to fund infrastructure including schools to ‘unlock’ or increase the number of homes built. Further information at Housing Infrastructure Fund 10 DfE’s guidance on securing developer contributions for education recommends using cost data in the latest scorecard to help establish developer contributions per school place, adjusting the national average for region and inflation. More Information can be found in the technical notes in the scorecard. 19
clear that you will no longer receive the previously expected level of HDC or HIF funding. Where HDC or HIF funding supplements an existing project, the number of pupils in these funded places should relate only to the proportion of places generated through HDC or HIF funding. There are many ways in which you can convert the funding into places, and you should choose the method that best suits your circumstances. For example, you may calculate the number of HDC places based on the amount the developer advised they would fund per place. You may also look at the project as a whole and calculate the proportion of places attributed to HDC or HIF funding and the number of places this created. If you have contributed HDC funding to a centrally- funded free school you should not include these places as part of your HDC forecast. The reporting of pupils in HDC and HIF funded places should be cumulative. Where these funded places have been included in one forecast year, they should appear in future forecast years, along with any extra places added in those future years. You should split HDC and HIF forecasts across year groups unless you are certain they apply to only one year group. For further guidance on recording HDC forecasts, see Annex C. 4.6. Forecast methodology The methodology statement is intended to set the figures in context. This is important since projection methodology varies from one local authority to another. Please provide comprehensive information. We may ask for further detail, including requesting a copy of your forecasting model, if we cannot follow the methodology you provide. If you include rates (for example, cohort survival rates, progression rates or pupil yield rates) that you apply to existing cohorts or housing data, please explain how these rates have been calculated. 20
We must be satisfied with the robustness of your forecasts before we will accept your data. Please provide as much information as you can about how your forecasts have been checked and quality assured. There is a section in the template for you to provide this information. Your forecast methodology should include information on cross-border flows, with confirmation that import or export assumptions have been checked with neighbouring local authorities. Further cross border movement data from the census is contained in the Schools, pupils and their characteristics publication, where you can explore data under the Cross border movement sub-heading. The forecast methodology can be returned via COLLECT or as a Word document using the latest provided template to SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk. 21
5. Additional Places In the Additional Places element of the SCAP collection, we require details of local plans to add to or remove places from net capacity, broken down by year group for each planning area, for the coming three academic years (2021/22 to 2023/24). This is a subset of the information that was previously reported on the capital spend return (which ceased after SCAP 2018). When making changes to capacity, LAs must follow The School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2013, and Academy Trusts should follow the guidance on Making significant changes to an open academy and closure by mutual agreement. 5.1. What places should be included You should include places related to any project undertaken by the school, local authority or MAT where the following three criteria all apply: 1. Mainstream school net capacity being added or removed You should include all places from locally funded projects that are being added or removed from net capacity, irrespective of how much these cost (including zero cost projects). You should include all places added from presumption free schools 11 which are expected to open in the next 3 years. Changes to admission numbers should not be included unless these will also result in a change in capacity in the Net Capacity Assessment or academy funding agreement. You should not include SEN or nursery places, even if they use basic need funding. 2. The addition or removal of places is not centrally funded 11 The presumption process is the main route by which local authorities establish new schools in order to meet the need for additional places. 22
You should not include changes in places resulting from projects that are funded by any of the following programmes: • Priority School Building Programme (PSBP); • centrally delivered Free School Programme (includes Free Schools, UTCs and Studio Schools); • School Condition Improvement Fund (CIF); • Selective Schools Expansion Fund (SSEF); • Voluntary-aided (VA) schools capital scheme. If you are providing supplementary funding or places to any of these centrally funded programmes, then you should record the number of places that relate to that supplementary funding only. If you record the total, then we will ask you to correct the data. If you are awaiting a decision on whether a new free school will be opened in your authority and have had to plan a contingency in case the free school does not open, we would advise you not to include this, unless you would plan to bring in the contingency regardless of the outcome of the free school decision. 3. You have a high degree of certainty that the project will go ahead We would normally expect this to be where funding has been committed, for example where the local decision maker (for example mayor or cabinet) has signed off the capital plans or where contracts have been let. This is broadly in line with the reporting requirements for the capital spend data return in previous years. For presumption free schools we would also normally expect the provisional opening date of the school to have been set. 5.2. Type of places The return requires the places to be split into the following types: Bulge Class Places: 23
This should be used to report any additional capacity providing places for a cohort which will move through the school. For example, a project to accommodate a one- off additional form of entry. We would expect to see this move through the school in your data, so for example if there are 30 places in Year 7 in 2021/22 we would then expect to see those places in Year 8 in 2022/23 and so on. Existing bulges which are already included in the capacity return should not be included. Added Places: This should be used to report any increase in net capacity where the additional places will remain in the year group reported, rather than moving through with a specific large cohort. For example, a project to increase the size of the Year R to Year 2 accommodation in a primary school. Additional places should be reported cumulatively, so for example if 15 places are added in Years 7 to 11 in 2021/22, and a further 15 places in 2022/23 then a total of 30 places should be reported in Years 7 to 11 in 2022/23 and 2023/24. We would not expect PAN increases to be included, as these are usually within existing net capacity. However, any PAN change which increases net capacity or exceeds the funding agreement capacity should be reflected. Please report places under the first full academic year that the places will be available in time for. See section 5.3 for more details. Removed Places: This should be used to report any works which remove capacity from the school, for example demolition of a block or removal of temporary classrooms. Places should be reported as negative figures. 5.3. Entering places in COLLECT Your Additional Places return – added places, removed places and bulge classes - has not been pre-populated for SCAP21, so all places will need to be entered in COLLECT, even if you already told us about the places in SCAP19 or the September Sufficiency Survey. 24
If you are adding places and removing places within the same planning area (for example removing a temporary classroom and replacing it with a permanent build), you should where possible report this rather than simply reporting the net additional places. Please report places under the first full academic year that the places will be available in time for. This should be based on when places are built in time for, rather than when they are due to fill up with pupils. If the places will not be available in September, then please record the project under the following academic year. For example, if the places will be built by November 2021 or February 2022, please record this in academic year 2022 to 2023. This is so we do not incorporate places you are adding into our modelling of shortfalls before they are actually available. For further guidance on recording additional places, see Annex D. You may find it useful for checking and future reconciliation of planned places to record notes against the planning area in COLLECT of school level information if known, as well as providing this context in the Commentary document. 25
6. Commentary Local authorities must complete a ‘Commentary’ template. This provides information that will assist in analysis of areas with pupil place planning pressures and areas with spare places. It offers an opportunity to qualify the impression that might be obtained from your data return. The commentary must link to your planning area information, identifying any local pockets where school capacity is an issue. Please use the commentary to explain where there is planned action to secure additional capacity, indicating whether this is temporary or permanent and in new schools or expansions. Please also use the commentary to provide an explanation of any other significant changes to capacity, when they would be implemented and how this would affect the places available. Examples may include school closures or where PAN is significantly below admission as indicated by net capacity. In summary, the commentary should include details of any plans that would significantly impact on available capacity. Please provide contextual information rather than brief comments alongside particular schools. It is helpful to us if you ensure any references to specific schools include their 4-digit establishment number, so that we can match up the information easily. Please be as specific as you can. We will compare the commentary for each planning area against the data you have provided in capacity, forecast and additional places. If the commentary does not appear to match what your data shows, we may ask for further clarification to ensure we have understood correctly and that your data is accurate. Examples might be where: • you have said an area has high growth or housing developments, but your forecasts do not appear to show this increase; • your data indicates a future pressure in a planning area but the commentary does not mention this; 26
• you have said a school will provide temporary accommodation for a bulge class from September 2021 but there are no additional places recorded. 27
Annex A – School Capacity Capacity for maintained schools The net capacity of a maintained school is based on the net area of all buildings that are available to that school. It should include all extra places that have been added to the school (even though they may not yet be in use). In addition, any classrooms that have been mothballed or non-teaching space that has been re-designated as a classroom. Further information on calculating the net capacity assessment of maintained schools can be found in the guidance document Assessing the Net Capacity of Schools. Capacity for academy schools We would usually expect the capacity of an academy to be reported in SCAP based on the capacity recorded in the school’s funding agreement. Academies should follow the guidance for making significant changes to physical capacity or planned admission numbers and take action to amend the capacity figure in their funding agreements where appropriate. Where changes to academy funding agreement have not yet been made local authorities may find the following examples helpful in completing the capacity return. (The examples are unlikely to apply to free schools where final intended capacity and capacity by year group should be recorded.) Example 1: An academy has reduced its PAN below that indicated by the funding agreement but no buildings have been removed or re-purposed Funding Planned PAN x Number SCAP Agreement Admission number of on roll capacity capacity Number year groups (PAN) 750 120 600 598 750 The reduction or limiting of PAN should have been carried out in accordance with the Admissions Code but does not require a Deed of Variation. The physical space continues to be available should it be required in future and the funding agreement 28
capacity should, in general, continue to be recorded as the capacity in SCAP. The capacity by year group in SCAP should reflect the lower PAN of 120, a total of 600. Example 2: An academy has its PAN set above that indicated by the funding agreement but no buildings have been added. The number on roll continues to be lower than funding agreement. Funding Planned PAN x Number SCAP Agreement Admission number of on roll capacity capacity Number year groups (PAN) 750 180 900 654 750 An increased or high PAN can be used to facilitate an overall increase in pupil numbers where these are low. If the numbers on roll continue to be lower than the capacity in the funding agreement there could be uncertainty about whether the physical space could accommodate the total number indicated by the PAN multiplied by the number of year groups. The funding agreement capacity should, in general, continue to be recorded as the capacity in SCAP and the capacity by year group should reflect the higher PAN of 180. However, if the academy is confident that higher numbers could be accommodated, it may be useful to have a discussion with the trust to see if a net capacity assessment could establish the position, and if appropriate then a deed of variation might be taken forward. Example 3: An academy has its PAN set above that indicated by the funding agreement but no buildings have been added. The number on roll reflects higher admission numbers. Funding Planned PAN x Number SCAP Agreement Admission number of on roll capacity capacity Number year groups (PAN) 750 180 900 897 900 Where the numbers on roll consistently reflect uptake of the higher PAN there is a degree of certainty that the physical space can accommodate the total number indicated by the PAN multiplied by the number of year groups. The PAN x number of 29
year groups should, in general, be recorded as the capacity in SCAP and the capacity by year group should reflect the higher PAN. Example 4: An academy’s admissions are higher than the funding agreement and PAN. Funding Planned PAN x Number SCAP Agreement Admission number of on roll capacity capacity Number year groups (PAN) 750 180 900 1025 900 As in example 3 there is a degree of certainty that the physical space can accommodate the total number indicated by the PAN multiplied by the number of year groups. The PAN x number of year groups should, in general, be recorded as the capacity in SCAP and the capacity by year group should reflect the higher PAN. As the academy is under no obligation to admit above PAN or funding agreement, the higher admission numbers reflected in number on roll are uncertain so not included in the SCAP capacity. In areas of need the department may undertake further investigation of the capacity with the trust and the local authority. Example 5: An academy with 6th form has its PAN set above that indicated by the funding agreement but no buildings have been added. The numbers on roll continue to be lower than funding agreement. Funding Planned PAN x Number SCAP Agreement Admission number of on roll capacity capacity Number year groups (PAN) plus 6th form 900 170 950 891 900 Including (including 100 6th form 51 6th form) If the numbers on roll continue to be lower than the total capacity in the funding agreement there is uncertainty on whether the physical space could accommodate the total number indicated by the PAN multiplied by the number of year groups plus 6th form. The increased pre-16 PAN may only be accommodated by temporary use of 6th 30
form capacity. The funding agreement capacity should, in general, continue to be recorded as the capacity in SCAP and the capacity by year group for pre-16 should reflect the higher PAN of 170. Where the 6th form still operates, you should report a 6th form capacity using the guidance in Annex B. Example 6: An academy no longer admits to 6th form but the funding agreement still contains a 6th form capacity. Funding Planned PAN x Number SCAP SCAP Agreement Admission number on roll capacity 6th form capacity Number of year capacity (PAN) groups 750 135 675 682 750 0 Including (0 in 6th 150 6th form form) Removal of 6th form provision should have been carried out in accordance with the Admissions Code and Significant Change process. Where the 6th form is no longer operating, the 6th form capacity may be reduced to 0. The full funding agreement capacity should, in general, continue to be recorded as the capacity in SCAP and the capacity by year group for pre-16 should reflect the current PAN. 31
Annex B – Sixth form capacity The SCAP collection includes a field for sixth form capacity, with an associated field describing the basis on which this figure has been calculated. We strongly encourage you to report the sixth form capacity of all schools where a sixth form operates. The existing field that provides the whole school net capacity should not change and should continue to include the sixth form capacity. The sixth form capacity field should reflect the number of places out of the overall capacity that are related to the sixth form sector. From consultation with local authorities, we are aware that providing a 6th form capacity can be difficult. We are not mandating the method by which you must calculate your sixth form capacity. However, the more consistent the basis on which the data are provided, the more useful that data will be. We do not therefore expect the 6th form capacity or the method used to calculate that capacity to change year to year, but appreciate there may be occasional step changes (for example, when a school’s 6th form admissions increase). We would strongly prefer you to provide data according to options 1 and 2 below. Option 1: Based on Net Capacity Assessment (NCA) Use the NCA to calculate the 6th form capacity based on figures already reported in the NCA. For further guidance, refer to Assessing the Net Capacity of Schools guide. A sixth form capacity can be calculated using the following calculation: ( ) x (A + 12 ) • Net capacity = the figure reported in box y • Number of age groups = the figure box n • Average sixth form stay on rate = the figure in box k • Y12 admission, if applicable = the figure in box h 32
Using example in the image below, the sixth form capacity would be calculated as follows: 6th Cap = ( 6.95 834 ) × (1.28 + 0.67) = 120 × 1.95 = 234 Option 2: Based on Funding agreement (for academies) Use the post 16 pupil capacity reported in the academies funding agreement. Funding agreements can be found at https://www.gov.uk/school-performance tables, under the workforce and finance section. Only where options (1) and (2) are wholly unsuitable (for example when a 6th form is underpopulated and this is likely to change or no 6th form capacity is included in an academy funding agreement), then you may use one of the following methodologies. However, we may request further information from you as to why the preferred two methodologies are unsuitable. We may also request further information if the method used has changed from options (1) and (2) in SCAP19 to any of those below in SCAP21. 33
If any of the below options result in a similar figure to that reached using options (1) or (2), then please report (1) or (2) as the method. Only use the options below if it will result in a significantly different but more accurate 6th form capacity measurement than options (1) or (2). 3. PAN or capacity by year group-based measure – subtract the total capacity by year groups for Y7 to Y11 from the overall school capacity to leave a nominal sixth form capacity. This method is not acceptable where you know that the school is operating at a substantially lower PAN than the capacity in the NCA or funding agreement indicates. 4. Typical Operating Style – using knowledge of your schools’ typical operating style. For example, if you have had a conversation with the school and they have stated their sixth form capacity, which may differ from other methods but suits their operating style. If typical operating style is similar to option 3 above, then please state option 3. Typical operating style should only be used if it better reflects 6th form capacity that is significantly different to options 1, 2 or 3. 5. Other – where you have a well-evidenced source for sixth form capacity that is not covered by or not equivalent to a method listed here. If you use a method not listed and it results in the same figure that would have been reached via any of the above, then please report that method rather than ‘Other’. If you chose this option, please can you add a note to COLLECT to inform us how you calculated the capacity. We would not expect you to use this option if you have used any of the above in previous SCAP returns. 34
Annex C – Recording Housing Developer Contributions The following example shows how to forecast pupils attending housing developer funded places. In 2021/22, 35 developer funded places are being created in a primary school. This may have been calculated from the number of places the developer will directly fund or as a proportion of places attributed to housing developer funding as part of a larger expansion. The places have then been apportioned across all year groups, which equates to 5 places per year group. Once HDC places are added it is expected the places will be attended by pupils in all subsequent forecast years. In 2023/24, a ½ FE expansion has been funded from HDC, creating 105 places in total. The places are again apportioned across all year groups creating 15 places per year. As the HDC forecast is cumulative, 20 places will be reported in each year group (5 from the original 2021/22 expansion and 15 from the 2023/24 expansion). Once HDC places are added it is expected the places will be attended by pupils in all subsequent forecast years. We do not expect the forecast to follow the pupils through the school system as you are forecasting the number of pupils attending HDC funded places and the places do not move. By 2024/25, the forecast shows 140 pupils to be attending HDC funded places. Year R Yr1 Yr2 Yr3 Yr4 Yr5 Yr6 Total 2020/21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2021/22 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 35 2022/23 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 35 2023/24 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 140 2024/25 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 140 If you record HDC places in the first three years of your forecast return we would expect those places also to be present in your additional places return. 35
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