If you’re feeling frustrated or exhausted by the new PE and Sport Premium digital reporting tool, you are definitely not alone. This year, for the first time, every primary school must complete an online return detailing their PE and sport premium spend by the end of July. As that deadline looms, our community of school leaders has been buzzing with honest conversations about how challenging this new process is. The good news is that amidst the confusion and stress, colleagues are rallying to support each other with empathy and practical tips. In this blog, I want to share some of those experiences and solutions – and remind you that we’re all navigating this together.
“It’s So Long and Complicated” – A Shared Frustration
One of the biggest themes emerging is sheer frustration with the new reporting format. The online form is, as one head put it, “so long and complicated and slow”, taking many hours to wade through. Unlike the old familiar templates, the digital form seems to “jump all over the place” with sections that don’t follow the usual key indicators, leaving leaders confused about where to input what. “It’s a blooming nightmare!” lamented one colleague, describing how if you mis-code something you have to start over from scratch. The categories and sub-headings in the form often don’t neatly match real-life spending, leading to “best fit, guess work and a lot of make believe” when entering data.
Beyond complexity, technical woes are adding to the irritation. Many of you reported error messages and even the form crashing under heavy load, forcing repeated tries at submission. “Haven’t managed to complete it due to it crashing!” one leader noted bluntly. Others are timing their work at odd hours in hopes the system will be more stable – one colleague joked they’re “waiting until most people have jetted off” on holiday before attempting the submission.
A Heavy Admin Burden for a Tiny Grant
Another common sentiment is disbelief at the administrative burden now required for what is, in many budgets, a relatively small funding stream. As one headteacher vented: “I still can’t get over the amount of justification for a tiny % of the school budget. I have a £2.9m budget and have to justify the impact of the £20K sports premium. I’d rather they just take it from us ’cos the paperwork and faff isn’t worth the hassle.” This blunt statement earned immediate agreement from others in the group.
The new process has undoubtedly made the PE premium feel like yet another compliance task piled onto already full plates. Several colleagues noted how much longer it takes compared to the old template. In fact, some turned to gallows humour – one headteacher quipped that it was the “best 4½ days I’ve spent in headship completing that form” (you can practically hear the groans in that comment!). Another joked the exercise was “10000% longer” than the previous approach. These exaggerated comments underscore a real issue: time. In the waning weeks of term, few heads have days to spare wrestling with an online form, especially on top of all the usual end-of-year demands.
“I Could Cry” – Emotional Toll and Solidarity
Perhaps the most striking posts were those that revealed the emotional strain this process is causing. “Please help! I could cry!” wrote one head, sharing that she’d already spent over 5 hours on the form and was completely overwhelmed. “It is so long and complicated… In school we categorise everything under each Key Indicator… however the form is not like this at all,” she explained, describing how lost she felt as the questions skipped around and her entries wouldn’t balance. Later, after an entire day of struggle, she confessed “I actually think I am going to have a breakdown over this… I have been on this all day, read all the help documents and I am still none the wiser.” You can hear the exhaustion and anxiety in her words – and many of us related immediately.
The response from fellow school leaders was hugely reassuring: dozens chimed in to say, essentially, “Glad it wasn’t just me!”. That simple admission carries a lot of weight. It’s not just you. It’s not that you’re “thick” or doing anything wrong (as the poster worried in her vulnerability) – the process truly is confusing, and many others are struggling with the same feelings. In an odd way, knowing that can be a relief. One new head admitted they “haven’t started it yet… worried now!” after seeing so many others having trouble – which opened the door for supportive replies and tips to help them get started with a little less fear.
Amidst the commiseration, there have also been wonderful gestures of support. Colleagues have swapped screenshots and answers in real time. A few experienced PE leads in the community offered to help others one-on-one – “If you need any advice let me know… happy to answer any questions you have,” wrote one former headteacher turned PE advisor, generously. Even humour has been a coping mechanism, as mentioned above, turning our collective frustration into a bit of shared laughter. This spirit of peer support has been a silver lining to the whole ordeal, reminding everyone that we’re all in this together and no one has to muddle through alone.
Peer-Suggested Workarounds and Tips
Beyond moral support, school leaders have been quick to share practical workarounds to ease the burden of the new tool. Here are a few of the top tips circulating in the community that might help you navigate the reporting process more smoothly:
- Download and reuse your report: To meet the requirement of publishing your spend on the school website, you don’t need to create a whole new document. The digital tool lets you download your completed return as a PDF, and one head suggested simply uploading that PDF to your website instead of reformatting everything. This way, the information is consistent and you save time. (It appears the DfE isn’t forcing the use of their form on your site – one colleague noted that while completion is mandatory, publishing that specific form online is not; you can use your own format if you prefer.)
- Governor sign-off without the fuss: Many asked whether the tool would email your headteacher or governors for “approval”. The consensus is no – it’s just a tick-box. The final section simply asks you to confirm that school leadership (head and governors) are aware of the report. “It’s just a ‘do they know’ question. No evidence needed,” one member explained, meaning there’s no automatic email and no extra uploading of minutes required. So, brief your governors in person as usual, check the box with confidence, and move on. (Tip: You can even submit the first parts of the form now and come back to do the governor confirmation after your next governing body meeting – the system allows you to save and continue, rather than waiting to do it all in one go.)
- Use remaining funds wisely (and timely): What if you haven’t spent all the money yet? A few heads in our group found themselves in that boat and panicked. The advice from peers: it’s not too late to put that funding to good use, as long as you do so before the deadline. For example, one new head, realising she had unspent PE money, wondered if she could invest in large construction blocks for EYFS to develop motor skills, asking if it was okay to do that so late in the year. The feedback was yes – spend it on a legitimate need and get the form in by the cutoff. “By the deadline,” one colleague emphasised – as long as the purchase is made and reported by 31 July, you’ll be in compliance. In short, don’t let leftover funds go to waste; quickly identify equipment, training, or resources that meet the premium criteria and document them in your return. (Do ensure they’re allowable expenses under the grant conditions, of course.)
- Be flexible with categories: A major headache has been trying to squeeze real-world spending into the form’s predefined categories. The trick here, shared by multiple colleagues, is to not overthink it – use your best judgment to allocate each expense to the closest matching category, even if it’s not a perfect fit. “Best fit, guess work and a lot of make believe!” was how one head described the process, and honestly that strategy got many of us through. Another leader (an assistant head in charge of PE) explained that they pulled up their accounts ledger and systematically entered each line somewhere in the form until the totals matched exactly. In practice, this meant some spending got lumped under odd headings, but the key was that everything was accounted for in one category or another, and the final reported total was correct. The form isn’t very clear – things will overlap or seem out of place – but if you ensure every pound is reported under some category, you’ve done your job. Don’t worry if it feels like a round peg in a square hole; we’re all doing a bit of that!
(One more note on categories: After submitting, download copies of your final forms for your records. That way, if anyone (e.g. inspectors or curious parents) asks why you categorised X under Y, you have the data handy to explain. Several heads have created a brief narrative or kept their own breakdown that aligns with the old Key Indicator format, just for internal clarity – but that’s optional.)
Remember: You’re Not Alone in This
If there’s one thing to take away, it’s that you are not the only one finding this hard. Far from it. In fact, knowing that dozens of other school leaders are in the same boat can be a comfort in itself. We’ve seen our community come alive with candid admissions and helpful suggestions, proving once again that when things get tough, headteachers support each other. So, on those days when the form won’t cooperate and you feel like screaming (or crying), take a breath and recall that a whole network of peers understands exactly what you’re going through.
Above all, try not to be too hard on yourself. Completing this return has been far more challenging and time-consuming than anyone expected, so if it’s taking you a while or you need to ask for help, that’s perfectly okay. Reach out in our HeadteacherChat group or to a colleague – you’ll find empathetic ears and likely a quick answer to whatever puzzle is stumping you. As one member said after finally finishing, “Glad it’s not just me – thought I was missing something obvious, but no, it really was that confusing!” There’s strength in sharing our struggles.
We’re all navigating this new requirement together, and we will get through it together. In a few weeks, the reports will be in, the summer break will arrive, and this particular hurdle will be behind us. Until then, keep supporting one another as you’ve been doing. Use the tips and tricks from those who’ve gone before, and don’t hesitate to vent and ask questions when you need to – our community is here to help.
Lastly, remember why we do this at all: to ensure our pupils benefit fully from the PE and sport funding. The form may be a pain, but the impact on children is what truly matters. By jumping through these hoops, we’re showing how we invest in our kids’ health and happiness. And that is worth it – even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment of wrestling with a stubborn online form!
Stay strong, reach out when you need to, and know that every other school leader in England is right there with you on this journey. You’ve got this – and we’ve got your back. Here’s to breathing a sigh of relief together when July 31st arrives!
— Lucy Coy