Devon Education Forum

The Devon Education Forum (DEF) is made up of representatives from schools and academies, but with some representation from other non-school organisations, such as nursery and 16-19 education providers and officers from the local authority. The forum acts as a consultative body on some issues and a decision-making body on others and at the moment, meets termly. Follow the link for further information on the work of the Devon Education Forum.

The forum acts in a consultative role for:

• changes to the local funding formula (the local authority is responsible for the final decision, although in some cases it may delegate the decision-making power to the Schools Forum)
• proposed changes to the operation of the minimum funding guarantee
• changes to or new contracts affecting schools
• arrangements for pupils with special educational needs, in pupil referral units and in early years provision.

The forum is responsible for decisions on:

• how much funding may be centrally retained within the Dedicated Schools Grant (e.g. for the Admissions Service, prudential borrowing costs, additional funding available for growing schools)
• any proposed carry forward of deficits on central spend from one year to the next
• proposals to de-delegate funding from maintained primary and secondary schools (e.g. for staff supply cover, insurance, behaviour support)
• changes to the scheme of financial management.

All DAG representatives to Devon Education Forum, who are not board members, are given DAG Associate Board status. Associate board member role descriptor (1)

To view DEF Agendas and Minutes please click here.

To view current representation on DEF please click here

Come and Join us – Devon Association of Governance (DAG) election for the Devon Education Forum (DEF)

The Devon Association of Governance (DAG) has vacancies on the Devon Education Forum from January 2026.

Vacancies exist for:

Primary Maintained Governors

Primary Academy Trustees/Local Governors*

Secondary Maintained Governor

Secondary Academy Trustees/Local Governors*

We are also looking for substitutes for each of the above categories to provide

cover when representatives are unable to attend.

DAG is committed to a transparent and representative election process to ensure that DAG Schools Forum members fully represent DAG constituents in their governor subgroups (primary, secondary, special and academy*).

• Having provided details of the vacancies above today, 3 November 2025 DAG will now ask for names of those wishing to stand for election to be forwarded to [email protected] by 07 December 2025.
• All constituents will then be able to access the election process on the DAG website dagdevon.uk and find details of those standing.  If more than one candidate comes forward for any vacancy, votes will be able to be cast until  15 December 2025.
• Once the election date has passed, the votes will be counted and the result published on the DAG website by 16 December In the event of only the appropriate number of nominees standing, DAG reserves the right to appoint their representatives.  In the event of a tie between two or more candidates, the Local Authority will be asked to appoint the representative.

If you would like further information about any of the above vacancies please contact [email protected].  All DAG representatives to DEF are given DAG Associate status – further information on this can be found in on the DAG website www.dagdevon.uk in the Schools Forum section.

*Note:  Academy representatives represent the proprietor bodies of academies and are, therefore, not necessarily restricted to principals, senior staff or trustees/governors.