Continuity of Education Allowance

You are here: Home > Army Family Life > Education & Childcare > Continuity of Education Allowance

Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) Results of the Ministerial Review

CEA is a much valued allowance enabling Forces children to access a stable education that includes social stability which most could not achieve whilst their parent(s) serves. A Ministerial Review led by a senior civil servant examined the need for CEA and the way in which the allowance is used. It is an exceptionally costly allowance (£180 million in 2010) but one which enables children to attend boarding school, both in the private and state sector, providing a continuity of education during the many moves of the parental home for Service reasons. AFF recognises that regular review and audit of CEA is a necessity. Some changes to eligibility criteria were announced in November 2010 ensuring that it is used for its intended purpose - accompanied mobile service. A survey into CEA produced by the Defence Analytical and Services Agency (DASA) resulted in a high degree of alarm throughout the Armed Forces, but particularly amongst the Army population, as the questions, coupled with a lack of prior communication, fuelled fears that the allowance may be cut. The release of the Ministerial Review is long overdue.

The Review found that;

For at least the near to medium term there will be NO changes to the key principles of CEA:

Current rates for parental contributions (a minimum of 10% of the school’s fees) will be maintained;
Parents will continue to be able to choose the school that is most appropriate for their children from the wide range of independent and state schools on the MOD Accredited Schools Database;
There will be no change to the allowances for Special Needs, North Wales and Day School provision.

There will be one new restriction on the age range for eligible children:

initial claims for year 12 and 13 children, who have not previously been in continuous receipt of CEA, will no longer be permitted;

The MOD will seek to establish a central payment system so that CEA is paid directly to the school rather than to the claimant.

Parents will be encouraged to use state boarding schools, which provide continuity of education at a lower cost to both the MOD and to parents.

The full statement can be found by clicking here.

AFF would like to thank the 3,500 families who completed our own survey into CEA. The results were given to the Ministerial Review team and overwhelmingly supported the retention of CEA, indicating that a large number of Service personnel would leave the Army if it were to be withdrawn. We believe that the result of this review indicate that your views, presented through AFF, were listened to and taken seriously. The CEA review produced the biggest response to a single issue in our thirty year history. AFF believes that our campaign demonstrated that CEA is necessary to support accompanied Service and that our engagement with command and policy makers has influenced this positive outcome. The fact that your views have been taken so seriously is concrete evidence of the very positive effect AFF can make to ensure that the voice of Army families is heard.

AFF CEA Survey
It is a common misconception that the MOD provides free private schooling to Forces children.

CEA is for all soldiers who meet the eligibility criteria
It is not rank based - it is open to all
ALL soldiers MUST contribute at least 10% of the cost of the fees, and more if the school is more expensive - the MOD's contribution is capped
59% spend over £1,000 per term on sending each child to school. 10% (141) choose to spend over £3k.

It's available to all ranks and is used by all ranks

A common misconception not just within the general public but also within the military is that this is a 'perk' enjoyed by Senior Officers. However, a wide range of soldiers claim the allowance. Very young soldiers are unlikely to have children old enough to be eligible but figures show that 52% of claimants are Officers and 48% Other Ranks. Of the 52% who are Officers 30% of these were Late Entry Officers.

AFF Mobility V Stability Survey
"One of the issues that comes up is that why are there so many officers claiming compared to other ranks? Has anyone compared the average officer assignment time frame compared to other ranks? I speak as an 'other rank' with 26 years' experience and although I have moved around enough, I am never ceased to be amazed at how much some officers are moved"

Why Continuity of Education Allowance?

91.5% of those not currently claiming CEA who answered the AFF CEA survey, thought it was important to retain the option of doing so
Another posting equals another new school. Service children can attend upwards of five different schools up to the age of sixteen, and past research has suggested that each move can put a child back educationally six months.
Service children can move between England, Scotland, Wales, NI, SCE schools, even local schools overseas. Each area has its own system, which means adjusting to changes in curriculum, ethos and sometimes even year group.
It is not always easy for parents to choose a school for their child, or to get their child into the school of their choice if it is popular and oversubscribed. Admissions worries and appeals are an on-going part of Service life.
Service children are proportionally more likely to have SEN and to require extra help in school than their non-Service peers. This is often the result of 'gaps' in their learning caused by moving schools.

"My daughter has studied the Victorians three times!"

"Due to postings in England, Scotland and NI we have adversely affected our children's education as they are three totally different systems where even the entry dates vary. A child born in August in England will go into a particular school year, but would be in the year below in NI or Scotland. Therefore, our daughter went down a school year, then back up, then down again"

Ofsted Children in Service Families (The quality and impact of partnership provision for children in Service families) May 2011

Service children in the schools visited were achieving generally in line with their peers academically by the end of each key stage, but many children's learning had slowed or receded by continual moves and they needed additional support to catch up. Some did not achieve the grades they might have achieved, if they had not been geographically mobile.
Continual moves had a considerable impact on Service children and young people's social and emotional development and their friendships.
Service Children's Education Schools (SCE) in Germany and Cyprus were not able to fully meet the needs of all the 14-19 years olds.
National data show that, in general, most Service children educated in mainstream maintained schools in England and overseas, attain as well as or better than their non-Service peers at the end of every key stage. However, when compared like for like mobile Service children do not perform as well as non-mobile Service children across all key stages. Measuring attainment is difficult with frequent movers.

Why do you send the child rather than the serving spouse away?

AFF Housing Survey 2011
206 respondents lived married unaccompanied - 48% of respondents said relationship had been harmed or seriously harmed.

Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Surveys 2011
45% want to be able to move about with their family when serving soldier is posted.

AFF Stability V Mobility Survey (Sept 2011)
"I served in London for eighteen months in SSSA flats while the family were in SFA elsewhere, weekly commuting, and it is soul-destroying. There is no way I would do it again and doing it for twenty years over the span of my children's education would not be an option. Plus, that was only weekly commuting 100 miles. Over the course of my children's education I have served in England, NI (twice) and Germany (twice). I cannot even consider how it would have worked in a sustainable fashion over those distances. Bottom line - I would have left once the children started school. There are many better paid jobs which entail weekly commuting, and a whole lot more that would mean I could be home every night"

"I would rather have a child happily at boarding school than have two unhappy parents leading to the potential of a broken home"

"I chose to marry my husband as I wanted to be with him. I didn't choose to use him as a workhorse to live away from me, simply to provide the funds for me to live with our children, on my own"

"Serving spouse live away instead? What for 24+ years? The serving spouse living away would mean that visits would only happen for leave of thirty days a year and what weekends are manageable. Bearing in mind that it would be very unlikely to get all thirty days' leave during school holidays and that depending on where you are serving in the world, weekends would be a very hit and miss affair (even parts of the UK are not a viable or affordable weekend visit), the serving parent would truly become a 'visitor' to the family and children. Over a prolonged period of time, not only is this obviously not good for the children, but would but a serious strain on the most solid of relationships."

Some of your comments:

"Thank you to all at the AFF for keeping us informed. You are providing a great service. I often get updates from you before my husband sees them at work!"

"A sensible result. I am very glad that the core principles of CEA have remained unchanged. Well done all at AFF (and the RN & RAF Families Federation) for your lobbing on our behalves."

"A welcome relief, in an already unsettled time."

Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) option to withdraw

For a limited time only the MOD have agreed to allow families to withdraw their child(ren) from boarding school during a stage of education without having to pay back any CEA already claimed. The reason for this is because some families have been forced to reconsider their eligibility following the changes to the CEA regulations issued in December 2010. The conditions of this withdrawal are the following:

Final payment of CEA will be for the Summer Term 2011, unless the individual school requires a whole term’s notice then the final payment will be the Autumn Term 2011.
CEA cannot be claimed for any children within the family.
This exception applies to all cases where continuity has been broken, since the announcement of the changes to regulations on 16 Dec 10.

If a family decides to take this option then it will be assumed that they are taking it with a long-term view, however it does not exclude families from looking to claim CEA in a future stage of their child’s/children’s education if they then meet the eligibility requirements at that time.

A letter detailing this exception is being sent out to all recipients of CEA with instructions on how to withdraw from claiming CEA if this is appropriate.

N.B. However, if it is found that there have been irregularities in the prior claiming of CEA then there is the possibility of recovery action.

CEA Eligibility

As CEA is currently under the spotlight, and is being reviewed as an allowance, there have been some enquiries, and comments, with regard to the definition of ‘serving accompanied’ and any circumstances that would be deemed acceptable if a spouse was not living in the family home full-time. To clarify this CEA is for accompanied service only, the definition of this can be found in JSP 752 chapter one section 2 paragraph 01.0202, with additional guidance in Annex a. However if a partner works a small percentage of time away from home, then families can make a case to SPVA PACCC. Their case is considered on the evidence provided, and each case is different, therefore there is no hard and fast rule as to whether or not this will be accepted. The only other potential exception to this is if there are contractual obligations that a spouse is legally bound to fulfil made prior to posting, in this case they need to make a case to SPVA PACCC for INVOLSEP Authority - see JSP 752 chapter one section 2 annex b para 3d.

As previously stated CEA is for accompanied service only unless an exception has been granted. If families do not inform SPVA PACCC and are intentionally, regularly spending significant amounts of time away from the family home, e.g. 4days a week or more, then they are ineligible for CEA and this is regarded as fraud. The penalties for this include repaying all of the allowance that had previously been paid and the potential for prosecution.

There is an anonymous fraud helpline, 0800 161 3665, for those who feel that they are aware of incidents of inappropriate claiming of CEA, however it is recommended that any concerns are first reported to a line manager or CO, they can then be put up the chain of command, investigated and referred to the service police if required.

Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) Rates

Due to our high rates of mobility, boarding school is often the only viable choice for Service children. Families find it an agonising decision – often a decision that they swore never to even consider when their children were younger. Service personnel who claim CEA have to sign a mobility certificate agreeing that they are prepared to move wherever the MOD requests them to. In claiming CEA, a Service person must fully accept that accompanied service is the overriding principle for maintaining their entitlement to the allowance.

CEA rates from 01 August 2011:

CEA (Board) Junior - £4654
CEA (Board) Senior - £6074
CEA (Day) Junior - £2741
CEA (Day) Senior - £3650

For more information please contact the AFF Specialist on ec@aff.org.uk.

Boarding School – First Steps and Considerations

Contact CEAS (01980 618244). They hold the Accredited Schools Database (ASD), a list of schools for which Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA, formerly Boarding School Allowance) is admissable. If you want to receive the allowance, the school you choose must be on this list.
CEAS will provide you with an application form to apply for an Eligibility Certificate. The new CEA Governance Team will be taking on the responsibility of issuing certificates. Please apply to CEAS in the first instance.
When choosing a school, bear in mind its location. How far is it from family? How far is it from train stations/airports? While children at boarding school are entitled to three return trips per school year (School Children’s Visits), travel between school and airport is only refunded at the rate of the rebated rail fare for that journey (i.e. a travel warrant), so parents who prefer their children to make the journey by taxi will not be refunded the full fare. When half term visits are taken into account as well, this can become expensive.
Affordability – even with CEA, extra costs must be taken into account. These can include travel (see point 3), uniform, extra-curricular activities, school trips. Parents must also contribute a minimum of 10% of a school’s termly fees as a condition of receiving CEA.
Will your child/children complete a stage of education while at boarding school? If not, or you choose to withdraw them before a stage of education is completed, you may become liable to repaying the CEA already received. If you know that you or your spouse will be leaving the Army before a stage of education is completed, you need to consider whether you can continue to pay the fees yourself, as entitlement to CEA ceases the term after a Service parent has left the Army.

A stage of education is defined as follows:

Primary, junior or preparatory school (8-11/13);
Secondary or senior school (11/13-16);
A-level or academic equivalent (16-18/19).

Share this page

Feedback

AFF is interested to hear your views or concerns about issues discussed on our website. Please email us at ec@aff.org.uk.