A Short Guide to the Department for Education
Published on:The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
The NAO is publishing a suite of short guides, one for each government department, to assist House of Commons Select Committees.
The government has made a commitment to improve support for young people leaving foster or residential care in England but the system is not working effectively.
Value for money for the £7 billion spent on 16- to 18-year-olds has increased overall, but the Department needs better information on which reforms have proven most effective.
While the impact of the Pupil Premium will take time to become clear, it has the potential to bring about a significant improvement in outcomes. However, the Department for Education and schools have more to do.
We examine the Education Funding Agency’s oversight of the Durand Academy Trust’s compliance with guidance on conflicts of interest and related party transactions.
We focus on specific concerns about the financial support provided to students attending some alternative HE colleges and other providers.
This Departmental Overview is one of 15 we are producing covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on the Department for Education during 2013-14.
Amyas Morse, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has qualified his opinion on the accounts of the Department for Education and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) on a number of grounds.
With the number of further education (FE) colleges in financial difficulty expected to rise rapidly, there are fundamental structural problems which might require decisions at a regional or sector-wide level.
Many new Free Schools have been established quickly and at relatively low cost but the DfE will need to tackle a rising cost trend and systematically learn lessons from problems in a few early wave schools.
A plan by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to reduce complexity and administrative burdens in the further education and skills sector, despite improving some processes, has had only limited impact on providers’ costs.
Review of a sample of the data systems underpinning the input and impact indicators in the Department for Education’s Business Plan, Common Areas of Spend and wider management information.
This review was carried out on the 2012-15 Business Plan. Revised Business Plans were issued in June 2013.
The Education Funding Agency has fulfilled most of its day-to-day responsibilities, but faces increasing expectations from the Department for Education.
BIS will not be well-placed to secure value for money on student loan repayments until it has a more robust strategy to improve collection performance.
The rapid expansion of the programme has been a significant achievement, but the DfE was unprepared for the scale of the financial implications.
The Department is not able to demonstrate the effectiveness of how it and others intervene in underperforming maintained schools and academies.
In its sale of the 4G radio spectrum the Office of Communications (Ofcom) achieved its objective of maintaining a competitive market with a number of competing providers.
Review of a sample of the data systems underpinning the input and impact indicators in the Department for Education’s Business Plan, Common Areas of Spend and wider management information.
The C&AG has qualified his audit opinion on the 2011-12 financial statements of the Young People’s Learning Agency and its sponsor department, the Department for Education.
The Department for Education is not meeting its objectives to improve the quality of care and the stability of placements for children in care.