Following the shutdown of the Condition Spend Data Collection (CSDC) and the removal of the Capital Spend Data (CSD) from the School Capacity Collection, we have introduced a new portal. The operational changes made are as follows:
DfE is conducting the annual collection of data on each responsible body’s (RB) use of the School Condition Allocation (SCA), and Basic Need funding from the 2019 to 2020 financial year (FY) onwards.
Data can only be submitted using the online portal and copies of the data sent by email will not be accepted. The portal will automatically display details of the SCA fund allocated to your RB, alongside any previous reported spends, for the 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years. It will be updated to include subsequent years of funding as they become available.
The 20th of April 2021. Any errors in the data must be corrected in the portal before the finalised data is submitted.
If you have any queries, please contact: ConditionSpend.COLLECTION@education.gov.uk
Note: Screenshots of the portal included in this guide may show names of RBs or SCA allocations not applicable to you.
Note: Only valid organisational email addresses will be accepted when setting up accounts. Personal accounts and non-verified organisations will not be able to sign up
1. All Responsible Bodies (RBs) in receipt of a School Condition Allocation or Basic Need funding will be contacted and have an account created for them. Sign up details will be emailed out from . If you have not received this email, or require additional accounts creating contact ConditionSpend.COLLECTION@education.gov.uk with the contact name and email address required for the account.
2. Follow the link provided in the email in your browser. It is highly recommended that Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Safari are used to complete the collection.
3. The invitation code should automatically populate in the box provided, if this box is blank, please follow the instructions in the email provided, otherwise, click “Register”
Figure 1: Sign up page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
4. Complete the details in Figure 2. The email address should be auto-populated. You can select your own user name, using any combination of numbers and letters. You are not permitted to use spaces. The password must contain at least 1 symbol, upper case letter, lower case letter, and number. It must be at least 8 digits long. Once all details have been entered, click “Register”
Figure 2: Sign up page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
5. You should now be presented with the Profile page. Please complete the details requested, including first name, surname, email address and job title. Business phone can be provided but is not compulsory. (see figure 3). Once complete, click the “Save” button.
Figure 3: Example of the Profile page
6. You should now see the Capital Portal page, there may be several links displayed here. For the Capital Spend Survey, please click the corresponding link (see figure 4). You will now be on the Home page for the Capital Spend Survey.
Figure 4: Capital Portal service selection page
1. If an account has previously been created, and you wish to access it again, please follow this link for the Capital portal - https://dfe-capital2.microsoftcrmportals.com/ and click the “Sign In” button towards the top right of the screen (See Figure 5) Note: We are aware of the visual clash of the sign in button, and will work to rectify this in a future update.
Figure 5: Home page banner for Capital collections
2. On the sign in page, please enter your username and password, and click “Continue” (see figure 6). If you want your browser to remember your details, please click the “Remember me” check box.
Figure 6: Sign in page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
3. You should now see the Capital Portal page, there may be several links displayed here. For the Capital Spend Survey, please click the corresponding link (see figure 7). You will now be on the Home page for the Capital Spend Survey.
Figure 7: Capital Portal service selection page
1. If an account has previously been created, and you cannot remember the password, please follow this link for the Capital portal - https://dfe-capital2.microsoftcrmportals.com/ and click the “Sign In” button towards the top right of the screen (See Figure 8) Note: We are aware of the visual clash of the sign in button, and will work to rectify this in a future update.
Figure 8: Home page banner for Capital collections
2. On the sign in page, please click the “Forgot your password?” link (see figure 9)
Figure 9: Sign in page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
3. You should now see the Forgot your password screen. Please enter the email address associated with your account and click the “Send” button. (See figure 10)
Figure 10: Capital Portal service selection page
4. After clicking the “Send” button, you will receive an email up to 30 minutes later providing instructions on how to regain access to your account. Should any problems persist, please contact ConditionSpend.COLLECTION@education.gov.uk
1. Once you have signed into the portal, you are presented with a home page, containing key dates for collections, and links to Good Estates Management for Schools (GEMS) and capital funding information. On the left of the screen is a menu with links to the separate sections of the Capital Spend Survey (Figure 11)
Figure 11: Home page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
2. Clicking on the “Create/Current Projects link brings you to the Create/Current Projects page (Figure 12). This page contains a list of all the current projects for your responsible body that have not yet been signed off by the chief executine or director of children’s services.
Figure 12: Create/Current Projects page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
3. To create a new project, click the “Create Project” button. This will take you to the project creation page (figure 13).
Figure 13: Project creation page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
4. In the “Project Name” field, you can enter any text string that identifies this project to you. It is not mandatory.
5. To select the school on which the project was carried out, you have 3 options. In most circumstances, you will be able to find the school in the drop down list available under the “Schools in your group” box. Click the down arrow to see a list.
6. If the school is not available here, you can select the radio button for “Search all schools”, this will change the selection box to simply read “School” (Figure 14). Click the magnifying glass to open the search box
Figure 14: School search bar for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
7. Click in the “Search” field on the school lookup page (Figure 15) and type the school URN, LAEstab, or name. Locate the school in the populated list, click to ensure it has a check mark, and then click “Select”.
Figure 15: School lookup for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
8. If you still cannot ascertain the correct site, the third option is “Stipulate site name” – this may be applicable if there is a new school that does not yet have a URN, for example. If this is the case, click the “Stipulate site name” option. The “Search” field is replaced with the “Site name” free text box (Figure 16). Enter the site name into this field.
Figure 16: Site name free text box for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
9. The next field is the “Primary Purpose” field. There are three options: “Add Places”, “Address Condition” and “Condition and additional places”. If the project is to add additional places only, such as a new school, or entirely new block, select “Add Places”. If the project does not add any additional places, such as condition projects, emergency repairs, or suitability enhancements, select “Address Condition”. If the project both addresses condition and adds new places, such as a replacement block, or an extension to a current building where repairs will also take place, select the “Condition and additional places” option. This is a required field.
10. The next box (“Primary type”) will now be available, and the options to choose from will be dependent on your response in the “Primary Purpose” box. Please select the most appropriate option available, as follows in table 1:
Table 1: Choices available in the “Primary Type” field
11. The next box is “Site type” – if the primary type is not a refurbishment or maintenance project, please select whether the project is on an existing site, a new brownfield site, or a new greenfield site.
12. The next box is “Construction type” – if the primary type is not a refurbishment or maintenance project, please select whether the construction is traditional block/brick, Structural frame, or modular.
13. If the project is changing the school’s capacity, please fill in the final option on this page. This should be the total capacity of the school after the project has added places.
14. When you are happy with the data entered on this page, click “Next”. Note: Clicking “Next” saves the project, and you will be unable to amend the primary type and primary purpose fields after this point. To change the primary type or primary purpose after clicking next you will need to delete the project and reenter the details
Note: The GIFA field is mandatory, however it will not be applicable for many condition projects. If “area” is not a suitable measure for the type of project, please enter “0” in this box”, for example boiler repair, or door replacements.
Figure 17: Create Project Information page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
2. The following three boxes, “New build %”, “Condition Works %” and “Refurbishment %” are not mandatory. If you are aware of what percentage of the works fit in to these categories, please enter in these fields. If you are not sure, please leave blank.
3. The “Building Contract Formation Date” is the date on which the contract for the works was signed.
Note: The date picker can be accessed by clicking on the calendar icon to the right of the selection box. To quickly access months, you can click on the year displayed at the top of the date picker. Dates can be entered manually but must be in the format DD/MM/YYYY.
The “Construction Start Date” is the day that the works began, or are planned to begin.
5. The “Anticipated Completion Date” is when the works are expected to be completed.
Note: Completing the “Actual Completion Date” sets the project to “Complete” and adds it to the list of projects to be signed off in the survey.
The “Actual Completion Date” is when works were fully complete by the contrtactor.
7. The next box to complete is whether the project is carbon neutral. You should only enter “Yes” if the project meets PAS 2080 standards on carbon neutrality. If you know that the project does not meet these standards, enter “No”, otherwise enter “Don’t Know”
8. The next box asks whether a DfE construction framework was used for procuring the project. For smaller condition related projects we would not expect this to be the case. For larger building projects we recommend the use of DfE construction frameworks.
9. The next box asks about site acquisition costs – please enter how much money was spent on acquiring the land, if applicable for this project.
10. The final box is for additional information that you wish to supply about the project. It is a free text field. This should be limited to issues with the particular build, or information that you feel would benefit DfE to know. It should not contain information on funding. Once complete, please click “Next”
1. The following page asks about funding streams for the project (Figure 18). The first box is for Schools Condition Allocation. Please enter the amount of Schools Condition Allocation that was used to fund the project.
Figure 18: Create Project Funding page for DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
2. The second box is for revenue funding. You should enter any revenue funding used for the project here.
3. The third box is for Section 106 funding. These are developer contributions specifically supplied under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) any other developer contributions should be entered in the “Other funding” box, with details set out in the “Source of other funding” free text box.
4. The fourth box is for any projects using the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund. You should enter the amount spent from this fund here.
5. The fifth box is for any local authority funding that has been supplied by the local authority that is not Basic Need, or (for Local authorities only) revenue funding.
6. The sixth box is for any Basic Need funding used to complete the project. Only local authorities receive Basic Need funding, however this may have been used in a project that is overseen by a multi-academy trust.
7. Any other funding used for the project should be totalled in the “Other Funding” box. This should then be detailed in the “Source of Other Funding” box.
8. Once all funding information has been captured, please click the “Next” button.
Note: This section is for projects where the primary purpose is to add places only, for projects that address condition only, see section 2d, and for projects that address condition and add additional places, see section 2e
1. When adding additional places, the next page contains questions on where additional places have been created or places have been re-provided (Figure 19).
Figure 19: Type Detail page for Additional Places projects in DfE Capital Spend Survey portal
2. The first box asks what type of places have been created. Your choices determine which options are available to complete next. There are 5 options as shown in Table 2:
Table 2: Choices available in the “Detailed Places Project Purpose” box
3. If additional places have been created, please indicate in the boxes how many new places have been created in each of the given categories: Nursery (pre-reception), Primary (Reception to year 6), Secondary (Year 7 to year 11), 6th form (Years 12 and 13, though this can also include any post 16 educational places that are not Special Educational Needs) and Special Educational Needs (SEN).
4. If places are being re-provided, please indicate the number of mainstream places being re-provided, and the number of SEN places reprovided
5. Click “Next” – for additional places projects, the guidance continues in part 2g. 2e and 2f are for projects that address condition needs or both create places and address condition needs.
