Spotlight for 2025 to 2026
Details of the key areas we would like to highlight.
Codes I18C: income from any grants provided in relation to COVID-19 catch-up activity, and I18D: income from other additional grants, have been removed. Any income previously reported under I18D should be shown under I06: other government grants.
DfE wishes to collect more information from schools about spend in key areas of technology that can lead to cost and time savings in the longer term.聽聽
We want all schools to reap the benefits of technology, but we know it can be expensive. It is important that schools invest in technology that meets their educational objectives.聽聽聽
Schools have told us that understanding spend on key areas of technology will help them to:聽聽
-
evaluate whether the technology is meeting the needs of staff and pupils聽聽
-
make decisions on whether to stop or continue investing in the technologies聽聽
-
budget and plan for technology to support maintenance, repairs and refresh聽聽
This will also help DfE develop better programmes and services that support schools and trusts to be more informed buyers of technology, ensure they are safe and secure, and to support system wide efficiencies.聽聽
We will collect this new information through the CFR framework from 2025 to 2026. This will require some additions to the technology spend lines, and some exclusions from other lines. These additional spend lines are explained in section E20: ICT learning resources and section CE04: information and communication technology, of this guidance.聽
Technology spend includes a high proportion of capital as well as revenue and this will vary from school to school and local authority to local authority because of local accounting rules. Therefore, we are looking to collect additional information through category CE04 in the capital expenditure section as well as E20 in the revenue expenditure section.
Capital versus revenue聽
| Category | Revenue (E20) | Capital (CE04) |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity | Y | Y |
| Onsite servers | Y | Y |
| IT learning resources | Y | N |
| Administration software and systems | Y | Y |
| Laptops, desktops and tablets | Y | Y |
| Other hardware | Y | Y |
| IT support | Y | N |
DfE has introduced a new Plan technology for your school service which is designed to help schools meet the DfE Digital and Technology Standards and develop robust digital strategies.
The introduction of鈥� IFRS16 鈥痜or local authorities from 1 April 2024 ends the distinction between operating and finance leases at maintained schools for accounting purposes. All leases will now count in principle as capital, unless the total value of the lease is below the local capitalisation threshold.聽聽
All leases will be classed as borrowing and will require the Secretary of State for Education鈥檚 consent. The Secretary of State has however agreed to provide blanket consent to a range of the most common leasing activities, as set out in the IFRS16 Maintained Schools Finance Lease Class Consent 2024. Leases not included in this Order will still require the written consent of the Secretary of State.聽
Where a lease counts as capital, it must not be included in the revenue expenditure lines E12 to E25.聽 Instead, it must be included in E30 as direct revenue financing of capital. The same sum will appear in CI04, and the expenditure will then be recorded in CE01 to CE04 as appropriate.