A headteachers’ union has called for clarity from the government about the deadline for reporting schools’ PE and sports premium spending, after leaders reported problems accessing the online return facility.
The Department for Education has also been criticised after it originally told heads to try using the system before 8am or after 6pm.
The DfE issued an update to its guidance on completing the PE and sport premium expenditure reporting return page on July 21, saying it was “aware of issues” accessing the return and thanking heads for their “patience”.
It said its digital teams had recommended that they use a different web browser and “try accessing the form at a quieter time (for example, before 8am or after 6pm)”.
The guidance was updated again yesterday to remove that advice, pointing those with problems to its customer help portal.
The guidance currently states that the “deadline will remain on Thursday July 31 as planned”.
‘DfE must make deadline far clearer’
But Ian Hartwright, head of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said they “have had confirmation that leaders who are experiencing issues, or who are now on holiday, need not worry about entering this data by the original July 31 deadline and will be able to access support to do so throughout September.
“This is what we are advising members, but DfE needs to make this far clearer publicly, as well as emphasising that no school will be sanctioned or disadvantaged, and ensuring this problem is resolved in the meantime.”
Hartwright said it was “completely unacceptable that school leaders were advised to log on before 8am or after 6pm, change browsers, and clear cookies in an attempt to circumvent these entirely predictable issues”.
He added that “more broadly, we have said for many years that having to report use of pupil and sport premium funding in this way should not be necessary and is yet another driver of the intolerable levels of workload facing school leaders.
“If the DfE insists on forcing schools to do this, the least they deserve is a system that works, and does not add to stress and workload.”
The DfE was approached for comment.
