Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what audit arrangements apply to schools in receipt of School Direct funding; and what steps her Department takes to ensure that such funding is used only to support teacher trainees.

School Direct funding is paid to schools by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) on behalf of the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). EFA gains assurance on all funding transferred, including the NCTL funds. This is done using external auditors, audits and reviews of statutory annual accounts.

NCTL has a grant funding agreement in place with all grant recipients, including lead schools that deliver School Direct, under which schools are bound to spend funds for the purpose intended, i.e. initial teacher training.