School Funding Forecasting and Early Years Funding Analysts

IMPORTANT - This vacancy is using the Civil Service Verbal test. The deadline for completing the test is the same as the vacancy closing date. Please ensure you complete the test with sufficient time to complete the written application.

The Revenue Funding Analysis Unit in DfE is looking for two motivated SEO-level analysts with strong modelling, problem-solving and communication skills to work in a fast-paced, delivery-focused environment.

One of the successful applicants will join our Revenue Funding & Cost Pressures team. Their main responsibilities will be leading on analysis in relation to forecasting funding for the pupil premium grant, and updating, maintaining and preparing the schools revenue funding time series for publication.

The other successful applicant will join our Early Years Funding Analysis team. Their main responsibility will be to lead on analysis and modelling in support of early years funding policy development

Both posts offer a really exciting opportunity to conduct analysis that is of fundamental importance to the main spending decisions of the department, with opportunities to work flexibly across the unit to meet ministerial priorities.

The Revenue Funding Analysis Unit is comprised of 22 analysts. The units overall aim is to provide analytical support to the development of revenue funding policy for early years, schools, high needs, and 16-19 provision. We work closely with colleagues in the departments funding policy teams and several other analytical, policy and delivery teams. In total we are responsible for developing and running over a dozen of the departments business critical models.

These posts provide an excellent opportunity for you to engage with a large network of analysts and analytical teams via knowledge sharing sessions, staff networks and working groups, facilitating your technical development, and ensuring robustness in your analytical work.

Our strong relationships with policy and delivery colleagues means the roles provide an excellent opportunity for you to work with a range of different colleagues and develop both technical and non-technical skills.

Post in the Revenue Funding & Cost Pressures team:

Your main responsibilities will be to lead on:

• The modelling and analysis of current and future funding via the pupil premium grant, worth over 3bn a year to schools, to support the education of disadvantaged pupils. This is one of the departments most important funding streams.
• Preparation and related analysis of the departments key statistical publication of a national-level time series of schools revenue funding since 2010-11 which is updated every year. Future development will include extending the series to earlier years and disaggregating to local funding areas.

Your work will include carrying out other analysis needed to underpin funding policy making in the team. You will also manage the quality assurance process for input data, the models, and their outputs and documentation. You will play an essential role in informing policy decisions, contributing to Spending Reviews and the departments business planning to ensure the effective allocation of resources.

Post in the Early Years Funding Analysis team:

The Department for Education currently provides about 10bn funding per year to provide up to 15 hours of free childcare per week for all parents with 3- and 4-year-old children and 2-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds. Eligible working parents can also get up to 30 hours of free childcare per week for children aged 9 months to 4 years old. In recent years, the government has been implementing transformative reforms that are significantly expanding the availability of free childcare. This post is an exciting opportunity to support the continued development and delivery of these high-profile and significant reforms.

The post holder will be expected to take end-to end responsibility for conducting modelling and analysis to directly support ministers policy decisions about how to allocate all the early years funding grants across the country, and will also undertake longer term development projects that aim to continually improve the various early years funding formulae. The post holder will collaborate closely with policy and delivery colleagues to support Ministers policy decisions.

In both cases, our models are currently primarily based in Excel although we are looking for applicants who can identify and implement opportunities to bring a greater coding element to the roles. There is the opportunity to develop technical skills on the job and through relevant training.

Professional Analytical Badging

Candidates must already be part of, or be eligible and willing to join, one of the following professions: the Government Statistical Service (GSS); Government Operational Research Service (GORS). Please note that if you currently dont hold this professional badging you will be required to go through the relevant assessment processes, once in post see links for more details.

Essential Criteria:

• Experience of using different analytical and statistical techniques to produce analyses of complex datasets, management information and other sources.
• Significant experience of Excel modelling and R or Python as coding skills are seen as an essential requirement for all GORs and GSS analysts in DfE.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to work agilely with policy colleagues to discuss and develop analytical ideas and to help develop policy thinking.
• Have a strong focus on quality assurance, ensuring their work is robust and meets the needs of policy customers.
• Able to effectively lead and manage their own work area.
• Excellent project management skills, able to deliver complex analysis at pace, managing risks and thinking in an agile way to deliver high quality outputs.

You need to either be a badged member of the Government Statistical Service or Government Operational Research Service, or eligible and willing to join. In your application, please clearly state if you are already badged, or eligible to be badged. Please also complete the 250-word Technical Statement outlining the breadth of your statistical expertise.

To be eligible for this route you should have:

A first- or second-class honours degree (2:1 for Fast Stream applications, 2:2 minimum for all other) in a numerate subject containing taught statistical content (e.g. Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Economics, Sciences, Psychology, Geography,)

OR a higher degree, for example MSc or PhD, in a subject containing formal statistical training (e.g. Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Economics, Sciences, Psychology, Geography,)

More details on eligibility for the relevant professions can be found here: Government Statistical Service (GSS); Government Operational Research Service (GORS).

Please note that if you currently dont hold this professional badging you will be required to go through the relevant assessment processes, once in post see links for more details.

We welcome applications from candidates seeking part time or compressed working pattern. However, due to the nature of the work and the shift coverage required, the minimum number of contracted hours for this role is 30 hours per week over a 4 day period.