2010/11 Academy Spend Tables – Technical Guide
General information
The Academy spend tables contain information on Academies’ income and
expenditure for the academic year 2010/2011. Alongside the spend per pupil data,
we provide a topline attainment indicator (where applicable) so that users can
compare how Academies spend their money with the outcomes they achieve, and so
ask questions about how they could use their resources more efficiently.
The income and expenditure data is taken from the Abbreviated Accounts Returns
(AARs) completed by each Academy Trust. The returns are completed at Academy
Trust level and so are for each individual Academy unless they are part of a multiAcademy Trust, in which case the data is for the federation as a whole. Academies
submit data rounded to the nearest thousand (£).
Academies are independent from their local authority. They have extra
responsibilities compared to local authority maintained schools and receive more
funding to reflect this. In addition, the AAR return has different income and
expenditure categories to the data return completed by local authority maintained
schools (Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) return). Therefore, the datasets are
not directly comparable. Please see below and the separate User Guide for further
information.
To make meaningful comparisons between Academies on spending data it is
important to consider the percentage of children eligible for Free School Meals
(FSM), the type of Academy (including whether it is a primary or secondary
Academy) and whether the Academy is in London or not. This is why we have put
Academies into low, medium and high FSM bands and specified their establishment
type.
Free School Meals
Pupils are entitled to Free School Meals (FSM) if their parents qualify for certain
benefits such as income support and job seekers allowance. For this reason, it is
often used as an indicator of deprivation. Schools with similar proportions of pupils
eligible for FSM can be considered to be similar.
There is a strong link between FSM eligibility and attainment – pupils eligible for FSM
underachieve compared with their non-FSM peers at every key stage. Usually
schools with higher numbers of FSM pupils have higher levels of per pupil funding.
The government believes that it is right that schools with deprived pupils receive
more funding so that they are able to give those pupils the support they need to
reach their potential.
We have grouped Academies into three bands according to the percentage of pupils
eligible for FSM, so that it is possible to make fair comparisons between institutions.
Academies with low FSM have 20.0% or less of their pupils eligible for FSM;
Academies with medium FSM have between 20.1% to 35.0% of pupils eligible for
FSM; and Academies with high FSM have greater than or equal to 35.1% of pupils
eligible for FSM.
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National medians
We have provided overall national medians for each spend category for all single
Academies with provision for Key Stage 4. The medians are calculated by ordering
the figures in each category in ascending order and selecting the middle value. For
example, if you have 7 items: £2, £3, £5, £7, £8, £9, £10, the median is the 4th item,
£7. We have provided the median instead of the mean so that very high or very low
figures do not skew the data.
There are no national medians shown for either the primary Academies or
federations because there are too few institutions in both of these groups for the
resultant median spend values to be meaningful.
The national median line shows ‘NA’ for all the contextual data fields such as
‘Number of pupils (FTE)’ and ‘Percentage of children eligible for FSM’. This is
because this data is sourced from the Annual School Census which collects data at
school level.
Data sources
The income and expenditure data is taken from Abbreviated Accounts Returns
(AARs) completed by each Academy Trust for the period ending 31 August 2011
(generally the academic year September 2010 to August 2011). AARs are provided
to the Education Funding Agency (EFA, formerly YPLA).
The pupil numbers (full time equivalent - FTE) and FSM information is taken from the
School Census collected in January 2011.
The attainment indicators, which were published in the 2011 Performance Tables,
are: the percentage of pupils achieving Level 4 or above in both English and
mathematics at Key Stage 2 and the percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs
(or equivalent) including English and maths GCSEs. The attainment indicators are
based on the results of pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 for primary and Key Stage 4
for secondary in the 2010/11 school year. The 2011 Performance Tables can be
found at www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance.
Per pupil expenditure
The per pupil amounts for each category have been calculated as follows:
(Income or expenditure amount) ÷ (Total no. FTE pupils)
‘SUPP’ indicates the expenditure category has been suppressed. The categories of
teaching staff and educational support staff have been suppressed if there were
fewer than 3 teaching staff (including teachers in the leadership group) or education
support staff (including teaching assistants) according to the 2010 Workforce
Census. Where the number of staff is not known, figures have been suppressed if the
total spend on teachers or educational support staff is less than £150,000. Data has
also been suppressed for administration, premises, catering and other staff
categories if the figure reported was less than £50,000. In order to ensure that
individual staff salaries cannot be identified (by subtracting the sum of all the nonsuppressed categories from the overall total expenditure figure), we have also
suppressed a second expenditure field which is the ‘other supplies and services’ sub-
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total. On the raw data file we have suppressed all five expenditure categories within
‘other supplies and services’.
Federations without per pupil amounts
We have not provided spend per pupil data for four federations, as these federations
included Academies which opened mid-way through the 2010/11 academic year. It is
therefore not possible to apportion income/spend per pupil for the federation as a
whole.
Academies with more than 12 months recorded
We have published data for all Academy Trusts with 12 or more months of income
and expenditure recorded in their AAR. A number of Academies that opened to
students in September 2010 have submitted AARs for longer than 12 months.
These Academies were incorporated (legally registered as a charity) before
September 2010 and had two choices: either to submit an AAR for the period of the
2009/10 academic year from which they were incorporated and then submit a 12
month return for 2010/11, or to submit a return for 2010/11 including the months in
2009/10 when they were incorporated. These Academies chose the second option.
Pre-opening funding and expenditure is not expected to be significantly higher
for the Academies that opened in September 2010 but submitted data for more than
12 months, compared to those Academies that submitted data just for the 2010/11
academic year. It is however possible that some extra income and expenditure may
be incurred by these Academies if they employed staff in advance of the opening
date of the Academy or incurred costs from services before opening. In the
publication, we have indicated where Academies have submitted AARs for longer
than 12 months so the user can take this into account when comparing to
other Academies. All Academies which have recorded more than 12 months of
income and expenditure have been clearly identified with an asterisk next to the
Academy name.
AAR groupings
The full AAR shows 10 income and 30 expenditure categories. For ease of reference
we have summarised the income fields into two categories (‘Government Grant
Funding’ and ‘Other Income/Donations’) and compressed the expenditure fields into
20 categories.
The categories ‘YPLA / DfE capital grants’, ‘donations into endowment fund’ and
‘depreciation’ have been omitted from the publication (see below). The categories
‘funds inherited on conversion (income)’ and ‘funds inherited on conversion
(expenditure)’ have also been omitted, but some funds inherited may be included
under ‘other donations’. This can include substantial sums and larger amounts under
‘other donations’ may include the value of Academy buildings and other tangible fixed
assets inherited from the local authority.
All the income and expenditure categories are listed below with a description of what
is included under each item. If you want to see the full set of guidance notes on the
2010/11 AAR please use this link:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120319141232/http://www.ypla.gov
.uk/news/latest/academies-accounts-direction-2010-11.htm
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The dataset for local authority maintained schools, Consistent Financial Reporting
(CFR), uses a different set of income and expenditure categories. CFR data is used
for the spend per pupil tables in Performance Tables 2011. Information on the
income and expenditure categories in the spend per pupil tables can be found here
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/documents.html and full
information on the CFR categories can be found here
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/consist
entreporting/b009979/consistent-financial-reporting-cfr-online-guide-2010-11/.
AAR INCOME ITEMS
Government Grant Funding – includes YPLA general annual grant, YPLA start up
grant parts A and B, other YPLA / DFE grants and other Government grants. A full
description of the income fields included are shown below:
 YPLA general annual grant;
 YPLA start up grant part A – this comprises the formulaic grant awarded to
traditional sponsored Academies for teaching and learning materials;
 YPLA start up grant part B – this comprises the formulaic grant awarded
towards staff costs at traditional Academies that are not at capacity
(“diseconomies funding”), subject to certain limits, any other formulaic
allocations of start up grant and any additional start up grant awarded on the
basis of a specific bid from the Academy;
 Other YPLA/DFE grants; and
 Other Government grants – this should include, but is not limited to, grants
received from the local authority.
As a result of the income fields included in this category, some capital grants and/or
capital funds may also be included here.
Other Income/Donations – includes other donations and other income received by
the Academy Trust and may include some capital donations and/or capital funds:
 Other donations – includes sponsorship towards new building projects and
other donations and sponsorship, other than donations into an endowment
fund; and
 Other income – includes investment income such as bank interest, gift-aid
receipts, hiring out of accommodation and sports facilities, catering income,
school uniform sales and any other income not covered elsewhere.
AAR EXPENDITURE ITEMS
Staff costs – include the full costs of employment including gross pay, bonuses,
overtime, employers’ national insurance contributions, employers’ pension
contributions, maternity and sick pay. Costs have been broken down into the
following sub-headings on the AAR:
 teaching;
 teaching supply;
 educational support;
 administration;
 premises;
 catering;
 other staff;
 staff restructuring costs; and
 staff development and other staff.
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All staff recruitment costs, staff development and training, staff travel, subsistence
and other out-of pocket expenses and employers’ liability insurance have been
included in the final sub-heading.
For a full description of each of the above items please refer to the AAR guidance:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120319141232/http://www.ypla.gov
.uk/news/latest/academies-accounts-direction-2010-11.htm
Maintenance of premises – includes maintenance and repair of buildings and
grounds, including gardens, roads, fences, drains, etc. Excludes costs which have
been capitalised under the Academy Trust’s accounting policies.
Other occupancy costs – includes all costs, other than staff and maintenance
costs, related to the occupancy of the premises and grounds, broken down into the
following categories:
 cleaning;
 water;
 energy;
 insurance;
 security; and
 other.
Educational supplies and services – includes the costs of supplies and services
used directly for educational purposes broken down into:
 books, stationery and materials;
 transport;
 examination fees;
 fees for external educational advisors; and
 other - e.g. swimming instruction and courses run off-site by other institutions.
Other supplies and services – includes the costs of all non-educational supplies
and services, other than occupancy costs, broken down as follows:
 catering provision
 audit fees: financial statements
 audit fees: Responsible Officer role
 other professional fees
 other – including telephones, printing and advertising etc.
ICT (not capitalised) – includes the cost of any computer hardware and software
purchases and other ICT equipment. Excludes costs which have been capitalised
under the Academy Trust’s accounting policies.
Furniture and equipment (not capitalised) – includes furniture, science, workshop,
sports and other equipment, other than computers and other ICT equipment.
Excludes costs which have been capitalised under the Academy Trust’s accounting
policies.
AAR EXCLUDED ITEMS
A number of income and expenditure lines have been excluded from the AAR
publication.
Capital grants and depreciation are not shown, as this publication is a summary of
revenue income and expenditure (as far as possible), so like the maintained sector,
capital activity has been omitted. However, the publication includes several income
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categories which could include capital as well as revenue income, for example ‘other
government grants’ and ‘other donations’ (see below).
Donations into endowment funds have been omitted because these are savings
funds which can be held in the form of short term (‘revenue’) savings or long term
(‘capital’) savings. Until January 2012, when DfE policy changed, the invested money
could not be spent by the Academy but would be held for the long term to generate
additional investment income. The interest generated will be shown in the ‘other
income’ category.
Finally, the categories ‘funds inherited on conversion (income)’ and ‘funds inherited
on conversion (expenditure)’ have been excluded, but some funds inherited will be
included under ‘other donations’. This can include substantial sums and larger
amounts under ‘other donations’ may include the value of Academy buildings and
other tangible fixed assets inherited from the LA.
The following provides a full description of what the excluded categories cover:
YPLA/DfE capital grants – this includes devolved formula capital grant paid by the
YPLA and other capital grants paid directly to the Academy Trust by the DfE for new
buildings and other major capital projects.
Funds inherited on conversion (income) – this comprises the value of net assets
held by predecessor school(s) at the point of conversion to an Academy, which were
transferred to the Academy Trust. It could comprise both fixed assets and current
assets, partially offset by liabilities. Where a net deficit is transferred, it should
instead be entered in the expenditure section further down the income and
expenditure account, under 'funds inherited on conversion'.
Donations into endowment fund – this comprises donations into an endowment
fund arising under a deed of gift with a sponsor.
Funds inherited on conversion (expenditure) – this comprises the value of net
liabilities held by predecessor school(s) at the point of conversion to an Academy,
which were transferred to the Academy Trust. It could comprise liabilities partially
offset by fixed assets and current assets. Where a net surplus is transferred, it should
instead be entered in the income section further up the income and expenditure
account, under 'funds inherited on conversion'.
Depreciation – this includes the full depreciation charge for all classes of fixed asset
for the accounting period covered by the financial statements. This would include
depreciation on buildings, furniture and equipment, technology/computer equipment
and motor vehicles.
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How to use the tables
Academy Selection Page Sheet – this gives a summary of the 2010/11 income and
expenditure for either an individual Academy or a federation. Users can select the
institution from the drop down menu “Academy/federation Name” and the appropriate
figures will be automatically populated into the other fields.
For any given Academy or federation this page will show the income and spend per
pupil for each of the AAR categories listed. For single Academies with Key Stage 4
provision, it will also provide for each category the national per pupil medians.
The simple formulae used to calculate the two per pupil income categories are:
(Government Grant Funding) ÷ (Total no. FTE pupils)
(Other Income/Donations) ÷ (Total no. FTE pupils)
The individual AAR categories included in both income fields are:
Government Grant Funding = YPLA general annual grant + YPLA start up grant part
A + YPLA start up grant part B + Other YPLA / DFE grants + Other government
grants
Other Income/Donations = Other income + Other donations
All the expenditure categories have been calculated using the formula below:
(Expenditure amount e.g. total staff costs) ÷ (Total no. FTE pupils)
Two of the expenditure categories are groupings of individual expenditure fields on
the AAR and have been calculated as follows:
Educational supplies and services = Books, stationery and materials + Transport +
Examination fees + Fees for external educational advisors + Other
Other supplies and services = Catering provision + Audit fees: financial statements +
Audit fees: Responsible Officer role + Other professional fees + Other
Please see Annex A for a table setting out how the individual AAR fields have been
grouped for the Academy Selection Page sheet.
Additionally, for an individual Academy only, the Academy Selection Page will show
the local authority area for that Academy, its FSM band, FSM percentage and for
primary Academies, the percentage of pupils achieving Level 4 or above in both
English and mathematics at Key Stage 2, and for secondary Academies, the
percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and
maths GCSEs.
As federations are made up of several institutions, it is not possible to show a single
figure for them in terms of their FSM, attainment or local authority area.
Academies-with Key Stage 4 Sheet – lists all the single Academies that have
provision for Key Stage 4 and their respective income and spend per pupil for each of
the AAR categories. In addition it provides contextual data for each institution: local
authority name, region, London/non London, URN (Unique Reference Number),
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establishment type (Converter/Sponsor led/City Technology College (CTC)), high
and low age ranges, number of pupils (FTE), percentage eligible for FSM, the FSM
band and the percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent)
including English and maths GCSEs.
At the top of this table users will find, for each AAR category, per pupil values for the
national median. The table has also been ordered, firstly into London and nonLondon areas and then, within these two areas, the Academies have been grouped
into the three FSM Bands (see above for full description of FSM).
Academies-Primary only Sheet – lists all the single Academies that have provision
just for Key Stage 2 and their respective income and spend per pupil for each of the
AAR categories. In addition it provides contextual data for each institution: local
authority name, region, London/non London, URN (Unique Reference Number),
establishment type (Converter/Sponsor led), high and low age ranges, number of
pupils (FTE), percentage eligible for FSM, the FSM band and the percentage of
pupils achieving Level 4 or above in both English and mathematics at Key Stage 2.
The table has also been ordered, firstly into London and non-London areas and then,
within these two areas, the Academies have been grouped into the three FSM Bands
(see above for full description of FSM).
Federations Sheet – lists all the federations and their respective income and spend
per pupil for each of the AAR categories. Underneath the federation it lists all the
Academies within that federation. This table has also been ordered to show
federations in London areas and those in non-London areas.
In addition, users will find contextual data for each Academy within the federation
comprising: local authority name, region, London/non London, URN, phase of
education, establishment type (Converter/Sponsor led/CTC), high and low age
ranges, number of pupils (FTE), percentage eligible for FSM, the FSM band and for
primary Academies, the percentage of pupils achieving Level 4 or above in both
English and mathematics at Key Stage 2; and for secondary Academies, the
percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and
maths GCSEs.
Some federations include Academies that opened during the 2010/11 academic year.
Federations that include Academies which only opened in August 2011 have had
those Academies’ pupil numbers excluded from the spend per pupil calculation for
that particular federation. Any spend for this non-teaching period is likely to be small,
and since the institution was not teaching at the time, any spend incurred does not
relate to those extra pupils for the 2010/11 academic year.
However, if any new Academies within the federation opened before August 2010,
we have not provided spend per pupil calculations, but the federation’s totals are
available in the raw data. Pro-rating income and expenditure for part-year returns
would be misleading because we do not know that their spend profile was stable.
Raw Data Sheet – this sheet provides all the raw data (i.e. total for each category of
income and spend) as returned by each Academy or federation on their AAR
proforma. It shows the individual income and expenditure fields collected, so users
can use the data as they see fit. As mentioned earlier some fields have been
suppressed (see section on per pupil expenditure). The raw data sheet also includes
the same contextual fields listed in the federation and Academy sheets.
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Annex A
AAR Published Groupings for 2010/11
Lines from the AAR
INCOME CODES
Categories from AAR Publication
INCOME CODES
YPLA general annual grant (GAG)
YPLA start up grant part A
YPLA start up grant part B
Other YPLA grants
Other Government grants
Other donations
Other income
EXPENDITURE CODES
EXPENDITURE CODES
Staff costs
Teaching
Teaching supply
Educational support
Administration
Premises
Catering
Other staff
Staff restructuring costs
Staff development and other staff costs
Teaching
Teaching supply
Educational support
Administration
Premises
Catering
Other staff
Staff restructuring costs
Staff development and other staff costs
Maintenance of premises
Maintenance of premises
Other occupancy costs
Cleaning
Water
Energy
Insurance
Security
Other
Cleaning
Water
Energy
Insurance
Security
Other
Government Grant Funding
Other Income/Donations
Educational supplies and services
Books, stationery and materials
Transport
Examination fees
Fees for external educational advisors
Other
Educational supplies and services
Other supplies and services
Catering provision
Audit fees: financial statements
Audit fees: Responsible Officer role
Other professional fees
Other
Other supplies and services
ICT (not capitalised)
Furniture and equipment (not
capitalised)
ICT (not capitalised)
Furniture and equipment (not
capitalised)
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