Hampshire County Council s4

Hampshire County Council

Schools Forum Item: 5f

13 December 2011 Fischer Family Trust (FFT) Subscription (School & performance data) Report of the Director of Children’s Services

Contact: Colin Payne, 01962 845700, [email protected]; Janet Roberts, 01962 846517, [email protected]

1 Summary 1.1 This paper updates Schools Forum on the changes to the charging model being adopted by Fischer Family Trust (FFT) and sets out the options available for purchasing FFT membership, alongside the potential benefits. 1.2 Schools Forum are recommended to agree that the costs of schools subscriptions from 1 April 2012 should be a charge on centrally held funds within the schools budget.

2 The current situation 2.1 Since 2001, FFT has worked with Local Authorities (LAs) and schools, providing a wide range of data to support target setting and self-evaluation. With 100% of LAs and the vast majority of schools across England and Wales now making use of FFT data, the project continues to be at the forefront of high quality data provision, innovation and improved use of data in schools. 2.2 Whilst there have been many changes in education over this period, the impact of change over the last 12 months has been more dramatic in both educational and organisational terms. In this context, the use of high quality data is, perhaps, even more important in ensuring that all students and schools can reach their potential and achieve success. 2.3 The FFT data is used as an integral part of target setting work by schools and for analysing the academic success of schools. The FFT D target (aiming to be the top 25% of schools) has become embedded as the expectations of both the authority for schools and for schools themselves and with the removal of forward estimates from RAISE online reports FFT becomes unique as an established way of setting appropriate targets. In addition, the increased need to use data as part of a ‘light-touch’ evaluation of schools, as part of the LLP process, places more importance on having FFT as a bench mark for evaluation. 2.4 To date, the cost of FFT has been heavily subsidised by central programmes, often themselves funded from Standards Funds , with a further contribution of £4,200 by the County Council from the Local Authority Budget.

of 6 3 The reasons for change 3.1 As the speed and extent of change has increased over the last 12 months, it has become clear that the current data and financial models used by FFT are no longer sustainable. This is largely due to 2 key factors: 3.2 Changing environment – acceleration of Academies programme with no previous automatic access to data for LAs; increased delegation to schools; increase and variation in LA charging models for schools; change in role of LAs (2011 Education Bill); increase in the number of academy sponsors and other similar organisations; and 3.3 Changing cost structure – significant increase in costs due to information security, rapid growth in use of FFT Live and wider range of data and analyses. LA costs have historically been subsidised by other programmes which have now come to an end. 3.4 In light of these issues, FFT have aimed to develop a new more flexible model which can cope with further change (structural change, LA-school relationships etc.) but sets project membership costs at a level which provides sufficient resources to maintain existing systems and support future developments.

4 The proposals 4.1 The following section sets out the new arrangements and options being proposed for 2012/13. The County Council will be working to an established timetable (see Appendix 1), in order to meet key milestones set by FFT. Option 1 – Hampshire County Council Central Co-ordination (Inc. Academies) 4.2 Hampshire County Council would subscribe to FFT on behalf of all schools and Academies within Hampshire, with funding from the Schools Budget as agreed by Schools Forum and with individual Academies paying their contributions. 4.3 The total cost for option 1 for Schools Forum for 2012/13 of £24,200. 4.4 A breakdown of costs ‘per phase’ can found under Appendix 2. 4.5 The cost under this arrangement is provided at a significant discount in comparison to the direct prices charged to schools by FFT. This differential takes account of the support which LAs provide to schools and other economies of scale. This discounted option is only available if the County Council agrees to co-ordinate the purchase on behalf of all schools and all Academies agree to purchase through the LA. 4.6 In effect what happens with Academies is that if the money is agreed by Schools Forum the costs are included in a row which is subject to LACSEG

of 6 (Local Authority Central Spend Equivalent Grant). That money is then recouped from the authority passed on to academies and then they are able to pay the authority for the purchase from FFT on their behalf. 4.7 To ensure that the discounted rate is accessed, subscriptions could be purchased on behalf of all schools and academies, even if individual academies were not interested in purchasing but only release access to the data for those academies who pay their contribution. 4.8 Those academies who wish to make their own arrangements with FFT and pay directly at a higher rate, can still do so under this option. FFT would encourage them to come through the LA as the first step. Option 2 – Individual School Subscriptions 4.9 Individual schools can choose to subscribe to FFT Basic or FFT Premium packages directly. Schools choosing option 2 will receive data and support directly from FFT as outlined in table 1.1 below:

Table 1.1: FFT School Subscription Package Options FFT Basic FFT Premium (Extended Support) Data Online via FFT Live Online via FFT Live

Reports KS1-KS5 Pupil and KS1-KS5 Pupil and School level reports as School level reports as applicable applicable FFT Research Access to FFT research Access to FFT research and findings; and findings; participation participation in FFT pilot in FFT pilot programmes programmes FFT Live Full FFT Live Full FFT Live Administration Administration facilities Administration facilities available to schools (e.g. available to schools (e.g. add accounts, modify add accounts, modify accounts, user statistics) accounts, user statistics) Email Support Basic account issues only Full support (account (reset passwords, issues, data queries, report deactivate accounts etc.) questions, ‘how to use FFT Live’) Online Support Standard help files Standard help files

FFT Training Standard rate 25% reduction on standard Courses rates Optional September transfers September transfers (early Packages (early KS1,2,3,4,5 KS1,2,3,4,5 estimates) - estimates) with 25% reduction on standard charge

4.10 Compared to option 1, primary schools will pay on average £93 more for a basic package and £593 for a premium package; with secondary schools

of 6 paying on average £500 more for a basic package and £1,500 for a premium package (see Appendix 2). 4.11 Option 2 will also require schools to make direct contact with FFT, with the County Council having no involvement in the process. Option 3 – School Group Subscriptions (minimum of 10 schools) 4.12 This option enables a group of schools to subscribe to FFT at a discounted rate with one school or organisation purchasing on behalf of the group. Once a group package is purchased, the model is identical to the individual school subscription outlined in table 1.1 above. 4.13 Each individual school within the group can select from the Basic or Premium subscription options, with support being provided directly to each individual school by FFT. 4.14 A discount of 10% is available for all schools within the group. However, compared with option1, primary schools will pay on average £74 more for a basic package and £574 for a premium package; whilst secondary schools will pay on average £361 more for a basic package and £1,361 for a premium package (see Appendix 2). 4.15 Option 3 will also require the lead school to make direct contact with FFT, with the County Council having no involvement in the process.

5 Recommendations 5.1 Schools Forum is recommended to support option 1 with the County Council co-ordinate the purchasing of school and academy FFT subscriptions for all schools and academies within Hampshire, providing account administration and technical support as part of the package. 5.2 Schools Forum is recommended to allow for the resulting budget pressure of £24,200 in its budget proposals for 2012/13 onwards. 5.3 Schools Forum is recommended to note that even if all academies within Hampshire are not willing to purchase a subscription, then by agreeing to option 1, the discounted rate could still be accessed but data would only be made available for academies who agree to pay their contribution. The alternative is that those individual schools and academies can still go directly to FFT, as described under option 2 and 3.

of 6 APPENDIX 1

Timetable for Implementation

Action Milestone Consult Schools Forum on 22 November-13 December 2011 options Consult Academies on options 22 November-13 December 2011 Decision on option 13 December 2011 HCC confirm to FFT subscription 31 December 2011 choice Accounts available, under new 01 September 2012 framework, to Schools/Academies

of 6 APPENDIX 2

Cost Breakdown ‘per Phase’

Option 1 Option 2 (take 10% off for Option 3) Cost to LA School Cost via FFT Cost Difference: with discount where School Cost via FFT purchased for ALL (Option 2) to LA schools Discount (Option 1) 10 p per Primary Basic Premium Basic Premium pupil Total 15 p per Secondary Phase Pupils pupil Total 147942 £24,212 PRI 79595 £7,960 £47,735 £260,235 £93.59 £593.59 SEC 68347 £10,252 £46,480 £118,480 £503 £1,503 For LAs with 50,000 or more pupils (primary + secondary phases) the discount for purchasing FFT live subscriptions for 100% of schools has been increased, resulting in a cost of 10p per pupil (primary), in place of 13p, and 15 p per pupil (secondary), in place of 20p. This additional discount applies ONLY if 100% of subscriptions are purchased for BOTH primary and secondary phases. The total cost for 100% of schools shown on the report above uses the 10p/15p figure, not the 13p/20p figures which would otherwise apply