As part of the ongoing strategy of developing schools’ capability for effective financial and resource management, the ESFA ran a pilot offering identified school and academy CFOs a unique and cost-free opportunity to further develop their skills and knowledge via a one-to-one mentoring programme.

ISBL won the contract to deliver this CFO mentoring pilot programme, which ran from October 2021 to August 2022. The evaluation provided excellent evidence that the mentees found it had a highly positive impact, with short term gains and long-term development.

The ESFA is currently exploring delivery methods for 2023. For expressions of intertest in being mentored, please contact srma@isbl.org.uk

What will a mentor be expected to do?

Here are the details of the pilot below. If you would like the evaluation executive summary, please email us at srma@isbl.org.uk

The pilot will run for 12 months in total, with the first cohort of mentees starting in October 2021 and the second in January 2022.

Further details about the mentoring programme include:

• Mentors are expected to provide a set number of hours support (maximum of 24 hours in total) to a single mentee over a period of 4-6 months each.

• The requirements and duration of the mentoring relationship will be defined by the ESFA and defined as a deployment.

• The mentoring will focus on these key development areas which the mentor and mentee will agree, including measurables for, at the start of the mentoring.

• In addition to defined development areas the mentor should be prepared to support, guide and advise the mentee on other aspects of the CFO role should the mentee request this during the duration of their relationship.

• Mentors will be contracted to ISBL for the duration of the mentoring programme.

• For this pilot CFO mentoring programme, mentors must be based in the UK.

• Mentors will be remunerated for undertaking the role of mentor.

It is expected that the CFO mentoring will require the mentor to carry out:

• Desktop analysis and an initial visit to the CFO mentee at their school

• An agreed number of regular mentoring meetings (virtual)

• Other project and ad-hoc activities e.g. reviewing reports, coaching on specific tasks (e.g. academies budget forecast return), reviewing evidence of progress, etc.

After working with a mentor, the mentee should be effective in the management of the trust’s finances and should be able to competently carry out tasks around budget planning, monitoring, reporting and in the area of wider resource management. The mentee will be confident in developing and implementing strategies to resource and deliver the trust’s objectives whilst achieving value for money across all areas of spend.

You can find out more about the role profile of a mentor by clicking below.

• CFO mentor role profile

• FAQs

The application process

Click to download the CFO Mentor Application Pack below:

• ISBL CFO Mentor application FAQs v3

• ISBL CFO Mentor application FAQs v3-2

• ISBL CFO Mentor application form v3-1

• ISBL CFO Mentor application guidance v1

• ISBL CFO Mentor Role Profile Jul21

• ISBL CFO Mentor Self-Assessment form v2

• ISBL CFO Mentoring application – psychometric test guidance Jul21

If you have any questions about the role of CFO Mentor, please send them to CFOM@isbl.org.uk 

If you are interested in this opportunity and you would like to be kept informed of any future recruitment phases, click below to complete an Expression of Interest form.

• Expression of interest form