NEED TO KNOW: Latest national updates

£17 million fund available to support trust growth and development

• The Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) will provide £17 million of capital funding to help grow and accelerate the development of trusts across England. An eligibility checker is available on the Gov.uk website so trusts can ascertain whether or not they would be eligible to apply for the fund.

• Further guidance and application forms are yet to be released, although the website states that applications will open in September and close in December 2019.

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Schools judged 'outstanding' by Ofsted will no longer be exempt from routine inspections

• Ofsted has announced plans to remove the exemption on 'outstanding' schools for routine inspection and intend to launch a consultation into how they can be included in the regular inspection cycle - read more

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Support for schools identified as 'requires improvement' 

• Different levels of support will be offered to schools entering the 2019/20 academic year with a 'requires improvement' judgement for overall effectiveness and to schools receiving an RI judgement during the 2019/20 academic year - read more

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 Plans for new Ofsted financial management rating

• The recent announcement from the DfE mentions plans to work with Ofsted to introduce a new "rating for financial management and oversight" within the school or trust - read more

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Plans to raise teacher starting salaries to £30,000 from September 2020

• The DfE have announced that they propose to increase teacher salaries by £6,000 (25%) over the next three years - read more

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New specialist academy trust to take on struggling schools 

• A new model will be piloted in the north of England with "the most challenging schools" being taken on by a specialist academy trust led by those with a "proven track record of turning around underperforming schools"