Overview

Integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) is a managementdata-driven processplanning approach that helps schools plandeliver the best curriculum for their pupils with the funding they have available. It can be used at any phase or type of school.

This guidance will help headteachers, school business professionals, governors, trustees and senior leaders understand how to use ICFP in their school.

ICFP involves:

• measuring youra school’s current curriculum, staffing structure and finances
• making realistic assumptions about future income, expenditure, pupil numbers and curriculum needs
• using the school’s data to createproduce a 3set of metrics for current and future years
• using these metrics to 5-yearinform planconversations, decisions and planning

The ideabenefits of linkingICFP

A curriculumschool’s andmost financialvaluable planningresource is notits new.staff. MostSchools schoolscan probably use some ICFP processesmetrics alreadyand whenanalysis reviewingto help them:

• deploy teachers, leaders and teaching support staff where they will have the greatest impact on pupils
• recognise the strong connections between future pupil numbers, staffing requirements and school finances
• measure their own future staffing and curriculum orneeds, financialcost strategy.
  these, and use the information to make decisions in a timely way
• identify where their future plans show they are an outlier with similar schools
• ensure decisions are aligned with their school’s educational vision
• ensure decisions are affordable and deploy staff within the available budget
• identify where potential savings can be made if metrics show that planned curriculum and staffing costs are unaffordable
• provide governors and trustees with the information they need to scrutinise decisions and agree strategy

The

If benefitsthe ofplanned curriculum is affordable, schools should still use ICFP

ICFP is typically most effective when when:

• it is part of yournormal planning activityactivity, andnot seen as a bolt-on
• it involves yourthe headteacher, governors, trustees and all senior team,leaders, includingnot yourjust school business managerprofessionals
• leaders are knowledgeable about their school’s context (for example, pupil body, staffing, school estate) and governors.

  Linkingtake curriculumcontext into account in their decision-making

• conversations and financialdecisions planninguse cana helprange you:
  of information from various sources, not just ICFP metrics
  • achieveleaders educationalare successable andto financialequate sustainabilitydecisions with cost and impact
  • deliverschools theuse besttheir ICFP data to understand staffing and curriculum yourneeds schoolfor can3 affordyears thatahead, meetsallowing decisions to be made in good time
  • schools use ICFP to model more than one future scenario
  • schools set regular reviews and update the needsplan ofas yourthings pupilschange, and continue to include all leaders and governors

  Common

  Read a buying for schools case study about how ICFP stepsworks for a multi-academy trust of 6 primary schools.

  Begin ICFP

  Most approachesschools toprobably use some ICFP followprocesses commonalready steps.when reviewing their curriculum or financial strategy.

  Preparation

  If you’ve not used ICFP before:

  • Getensure schoolsenior leaders, governors and trustees on board and make sure they understand what an ICFP approach is.is The– alongside freethis guidance, you can use the introductory webinars in the resources section canto help with this.this

    You’ll need to:

    • get

      gather curriculumaccurate andinformation financialabout planners to assess your school’s current financial situationposition and current staffing (for example, the school’snumber teachingof resourcesfull-time equivalent (FTE), job descriptions and so on)

    • create

      get anyour educationalpupil visionnumber statementforecasts for– you’ll also need your school

    • establish3-year commonbudget assumptionsforecast aboutdata, whatas this will changetell overyou 3how tomuch 5revenue yearsyou including:
      • pupilhave numbersavailable andfor needs
      • funding
      • costs
      • curriculum staffing
      • educational policy
      (this includes leadership, management and curriculum support staff)

    • choose ana suitable ICFP tool for your needs – if you’re new to ICFP, you might want to start with a simple tool that meetsconsiders a few key variables, such as the Department for Education’s (DfE) free basic ICFP tool or the others listed on this page, or ask your needslocal school business networks which tools they would recommend

    Analysis

  • Useenter your school’s data into the tool and assess the outputs – if your chosen tool RAG rates ICFP outputs, use this information to guide where you could consider changes, or use a tool such as DfE’s financial benchmarking and insights tool (FBIT) to entersee how your school’s:school compares to similar schools

    • income

      do not use ICFP metrics in isolation – you need to use your school’s context and expenditure

    • teacherensure costs
    • full-timethat equivalentyour teachers
    • pupilconversations numbers
    • lengthinvolve ofall your timetablefinance cycleand curriculum leaders

  • Youcarry canout thenthis measureprocess andin benchmarkplenty keyof metricstime againstbefore otherany similardecisions schools.need Keyto metricsbe aremade explained– inwhen moreinformation detailchanges in(such as pupil number forecasts), go back to the sectionget onpupil freenumber webinars.data forecasts step and begin the process again

  Using ICFP

  Using ICFP in a school

  TheWhen undertaking ICFP, toolschools willshould calculateaim to generate metrics for youkey suchcosts as:and ratios. These typically include:

  • pupilratios teacherof ratioteachers to pupils
  • averageteacher classcontact sizeratios
  • per hour lesson cost (or average teacherlesson loadcost)
  • teacherleadership contactcosts ratioas a percentage of income
  • costmanagement per lessoncosts
  • averagecurriculum teachersupport coststaff costs

  TheSupport morewith variablessuggested youmetrics measure,is theavailable morein accuratelythe you’llresources besection.

  Analysis ableof toICFP predictmetrics gives the resourcesnumber youof canteachers, afford.

  Reconciliation

  Yourleaders analysisand willcurriculum givesupport youstaff the numberschool ofwill teachersbe youable canto afford, and the number of teachers needed to deliver yourthe idealplanned curriculum. If these numbers are different, youschools will need to reconcile them.to:

  Reconcile your numbers by:

  • changingchange other metrics to close the gap between these numbers – youthis may needmean toadjusting adjust class size, number of teachers or the curriculum offered
  • workingwork openly with all relevant staff until youagreement reachis anreached agreement – what youchanges change will depend on the school priorities set and out in your educational vision statementcontext
  • consideringconsider what school staff can deliver and the impact that any changes may have on workload and work-life balance – reducing school workload can help with this

  Strategic planning and reviews

  WriteThe amore strategicvariables planthat forare 3measured, to-5the yearsmore usingaccurately allschools thewill databe youable haveto gathered.

  Setpredict regularthe reviewsresources andthey updatecan theafford. planSchools asshould thingsconsider change,what makinglevel sureof thatcomplexity youis continueright tofor includethem. allIn leaderspractice, andthis governors.

  ICFPmight tools

  Basicmean freea ICFPschool tool

  Ifthat youis are new to ICFP, theor ICFPis toola invery thesmall Financialprimary, Benchmarkingchoosing to measure and Insightsanalyse Toolfewer (FBIT)variables willthan helpa yoularger toschool door a basicschool ICFPthat analysis. It is freemore toexperienced use,with youan just need a DfE Sign-in account.

  Intermediate free ICFP tool

  approach.

  IfForecasting youincome, alreadyexpenditure haveand pupil numbers inevitably involves some experienceuncertainty. ofIncluding ICFP, youmetrics mightanalysis likewithin toscenario useplanning acan morehelp detailedschools toolnavigate suchthis asuncertainty the:more effectively.

  • primary

    Schools schoolmay workbook (MSwant Excelto Spreadsheet,look 86.1at KB)other andways technicalthey guide (PDF,can 375make KB,more 15of pages)

  • secondarytheir schoolincome workbook (MSavailable Excelfor Spreadsheet,the 99.8curriculum KB)by andreducing technicalexpenditure guide (PDF,in 427other KB,areas. 19The pages)
  • specialmaximising schoolsvalue andfor providerspupils of AP workbookprogramme (MS Excelcan Spreadsheet,help 751schools KB)with andthis technicalprocess.

    Using guide (PDFICFP, 272in KB,a 15school pages)

  trust

  Even though ICFP using DfEmetrics toolsare isproduced aat freeindividual webinarschool fromlevel, Entrustschool thattrusts givesmay anmanage introductionthe onprocess howfor their schools. Schools within a trust will find it easier to make comparisons with each other if they use the workbooks.same ICFP model trust-wide.  

  Paid-forUsing ICFP toolsto andmake packagesfinancial savings

  ThereAlthough arethe primary purpose of ICFP toolsis availableto help proactive planning ahead, for schoolssome toschools, buy.the Somefirst oftime thesethey toolsuse haveICFP additionalmay resourcesbe andmore training.reactive You– couldperhaps askin otherresponse to falling pupil rolls or existing budget deficits. As schools are funded on a per-pupil basis, fewer pupils in yourthe networksfuture whichwill toolsmean theyless useincome, andbut recommend.

  Freeit webinarswill andalso guidance

  Thismean trainingfewer pupils needing to be taught. These schools can still use ICFP, as it will help headthem teachers,identify governorswhere changes can be made, prioritise these changes, agree timescales and schoolhelp businessensure professionals.their plans remain affordable.

  Resources

  InstituteResources offor Schoolheadteachers, Businessgovernors Leadershipand (ISBL)trustees

  ISBLThese hasresources anare for those new to ICFP trainingor presentationwho thatare covers:not from a financial background:

  • Institute of School Business Leadership free webinar covers an overview of ICFP

  • , calculating metrics
  • and what the metrics can tell you about your school

  Entrust

• Entrust’sHelping webinarschools onmanage Howresources toand integratemoney: curriculumguidance andfor financial planninggovernors covers:

  • whichexplains metricssome youof willthe need
  • howkey to understand your ICFP results
  metrics
  • how to implement changes

  EntrustThese alsoguides haveprovide schoolfurther resourcesupport managementwith webinarsICFP whichand cover:ICFP terms:

  • ICFP

    7-step usingguide DfEto tools

  • ICFP metrics(PDF, deep135 diveKB, 7 pages)

  • basic principles of ICFP during(PDF, times179 ofKB, uncertainty10 pages)

  Free

  Resources ICFPfor guides

  school business professionals

  These guidesfree provideor funded resources go into further supportdetail withabout ICFP and ICFPare terms:for those with more experience and for school business professionals:

  • 7-stepICFP fundamental guideequations tosupport ICFPworkbook (PDF,MS 135Excel KBSpreadsheet, 740.1 pagesKB)

  • and basicICFP principlesfundamental ofequations ICFPguidance (PDF, 179373 KB, 108 pages) contain illustrative spreadsheets on how to approach ICFP from either a curriculum to finance perspective or a finance to curriculum perspective

  • The common ICFP terms (PDF, (PDF, 202 KB,KB, 9 pages)pages) provides further support with ICFP terms

  • School business professionals: training and development includes links to DfE-funded regional in-person training workshops on a range of topics, including ICFP

  SupportTools

  SRMABasic programmefree ICFP tool

  YouIf canyou requestare new to ICFP, the ICFP tool in the financial benchmarking and insights tool (FBIT) will help you to do a free,basic confidentialICFP visitanalysis. fromIt oneis free to use – you just need a DfE Sign-in account. The tool is adapted for both primary and secondary schools.

  Intermediate free ICFP tool

  If you already have some experience of theICFP, department’syou might like to use a more detailed tool such as the:

  • primary school resourceworkbook management(MS advisersExcel (SRMAs),Spreadsheet, who86.1 areKB) expertsand intechnical guide (PDF, 375 KB, 15 pages)
  • secondary school resourceworkbook management(MS Excel Spreadsheet, 99.8 KB) and providetechnical tailoredguide advice(PDF, 427 KB, 19 pages)
  • special schools and support.providers of AP workbook (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 751 KB) and technical guide (PDF, 272 KB, 15 pages)

  Paid-for ICFP tools and packages

  Some schools choose to buy an ICFP tool. Some of these tools have additional resources and training.

  Some schools may find that their existing financial or staffing software package has an ICFP tool. This may come at additional cost.

  Schools could ask other schools in their networks which tools they use and recommend. DfE does not endorse any particular organisation. You should follow your procurement process if you choose to buy any tools and services.

  Support

  The school resource management advisers (SRMA) programme. hasSRMAs moreare information.

  Financialexperts in school resource management and provide free and confidential tailored advice

  and support including on how to use ICFP.

  Get financial advice for schools has a list of paidexternal providers of ICFP advice.advice providers that charge for their services. Services include:

  • include recommending or supplying an ICFP tool
  • tool, analysing your current processes
  • supporting youand tosupporting makeschools with an ICFP action plan
  plan.

  Find a school business professional (SBP) network contains a directory of local networks. SBPs can use this link to find groups and get peer-to-peer support.

  Related resourcesresources:

  • SchoolMaximising workforcevalue planning
  • Helpingfor schoolspupils: manage resources and money: guidance for governorsschools and trusts
  • DealImprove foryour schools:school’s hiringand supplytrust’s teachersdigital and agencyfinancial workersplanning
  • Buying Three forstrands school’sof blog:leadership, usingNational theGovernance ICFPAssociation, toolAssociation toof helpSchool manageand yourCollege school’sLeaders resourcesand Institute of School Business Leadership