Funding for Schools
Schools Funding
Sometimes, how you pay for activities can seem quite complicated, so we’ve tried to make things as simple as possible.
Every school gets some money from their Local Authority for Aimhigher allocation. Called Standards Fund monies and labelled as Aimhigher, you will need to talk to your School bursar about getting access to this money.
The Standards Fund money should be used by the school to pay for:
- Appropriate support and/or recognition for school staffing for Aimhigher
- In-school costs such as internal room hire, internal or school transport and internal catering costs
- Staff cover for trips and activities outside of schools
Due to the way we are funded, Aimhigher Sussex is not allowed to reimburse schools directly for any costs – this is why the Standards Fund monies are paid directly to schools by the Local Authority.
If there are any issues accessing these funds for the above purposes, please contact your Area Manager or our Operations Manager, Susan Bentley on sb256@brighton.ac.uk or 01273 643870 who will be able to discuss the matter with your school finance office.
So, if Aimhigher Sussex can’t pay your school directly, how do you pay for activities?
Your Area Manager holds a pot of money that can be accessed for activities. Any activities that your Area Manager organises for you will be invoiced directly to the Area Office by the activity provider. This means that you should not pay any activity provider invoices from your school funds as you won’t be able to get reimbursed by Aimhigher Sussex. Please ensure you discuss your programme of activities with your Area Manager throughout the year.
If you organise an Aimhigher activity yourself, make sure that the provider knows to invoice the Aimhigher Area Office and not the school
Schools’ expenditure on activities
All activities planned should fall within the scope of the targeted Aimhigher programme.
Aimhigher Sussex are also required to apply Value for Money rules to all activities. To this end, any planned activities of £1,000 or more will be subject to the agreement of the Director (number of students per activity will be taken into consideration).
Aimhigher Sussex are unable to fund overseas activity.
If an activity provider (including Aimhigher Sussex) has to cancel an activity, they will endeavour to let any booked schools know in ample time.
If a school is unable to attend an activity or needs to cancel, you should make sure to contact the Activity Provider and your Area Manager in good time.
Schools Activity Invoicing
If you have any internal school costs, speak to your Bursar who will pay through the Aimhigher Standard Fund allocation.
Activity providers and any external refreshment/transport providers should invoice Aimhigher Sussex:
West Sussex
Chris Derbyshire
Aimhigher Sussex
University of Chichester
Bognor Regis Campus
Upper Bognor Road
Bognor Regis
PO21 1HR
East Sussex
Linda Kelly
Aimhigher Sussex
University Centre Hastings
Havelock Road
Hastings
TN34 1DQ
Brighton and Hove
Sara Candler
Aimhigher Sussex
University of Sussex
Sussex House
Falmer
BN1 9RH
We suggest you copy the information on this page to your bursar, or finance manager, or the person responsible for dealing with invoices on your behalf.
