New mandatory rules for procuring supply staff

The DfE has been concerned for some time now with the amounts supply agencies charge academy trusts for providing temporary staff, and has been looking to ensure better value for money.

From 1 September 2026, the default position is that all academy trusts must procure supply staff via the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) ‘Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment’ framework agreement. (The Government Commercial Agency is the new name of the Crown Commercial Service as from 1 April 2026).

This new GCA framework went live on 1 May 2026 and can be viewed at www.gca.gov.uk/agreements/RM6376. At the time of writing, the contract documents and the list of suppliers have not been published online.

A key feature is "the DfE negotiated rate card" shown in the table below that caps supply agency fees. It also will mean academy trusts will not have to pay a transfer fee where a temporary worker moves to a permanent role after 12 weeks.

Although use of the framework will be mandatory, there are two exceptions:

1. You may set up your own new framework/contract, provided it is above the applicable procurement threshold, is procured in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, and agency fee rates are no higher than those in the DfE rate card.
2. If you have an existing contract in place before 1 September 2026 you can continue to use it, even if the rates are higher than those in the DfE rate card.

Although not part of the Guidance published so far, there may be a mechanism to seek DfE consent to depart from the framework where a role cannot be filled under it.

With both the mandatory requirement and the new academic year starting this September, you should familiarise yourself with how the framework operates as soon as the information is available so you are ready to use it. And of course you don't need to wait until 1 September - if using the framework would reduce your spend, you can access it now.

If you wish to keep using an existing contract/framework, you should review the applicable rates. If a current agency is above the DfE rate card and is listed on the GCA framework, you should be able to negotiate down to those lower rates. If an agency is not on the GCA framework and will not reduce fees, then if the contract allows you may want to treat them as a last resort where alternatives at the lower rates are not available.

There is currently no clarity on how the rules will apply where one academy trust provides temporary assistance to another academy trust, for example short-term teaching cover, IT support, or executive leadership.

As and when the Academy Trust Handbook 2026 is published, which would usually be in late June/July, and/or any further guidance is published, we will share a further update.

The DfE negotiated rate card is set out below, but note these are the maximum rates that can be charged and supply agencies might charge less under the framework: