Could any one give me some accurate advice on how much is actually allocated to an average size secondary school (800-900 pupils) and when? Also how long the process has been going on?
Please don't respond with diatribes against ELCs and COL generally .... I just want to do some maths and discuss the issue from a well informed position within my College

This document on the teachernet site appears to answer your question Andy.

£1000 per school plus about £10 per pupil.

First batch of ELc's handed out in Sept 2002.

Thank you Dan- that's exactly what I was looking for.

Information on eLCs is clearly still not reaching teachers at grass-roots level. There was a large underspend in the first two years of the eLC funding initiative, with the result that the money just went back into the government's coffers. Spending on eLCs in this third year of the initiative is still slow.

My situation is that having been recently given responsibility for ELCs in the school I want to know some basic information on what they have been spent on in the past, how products purchased are being used and monitored, and what I can expect in ELCs year on year in the future. I also would like to know when I can expect the next tranche.
Information within College is difficult to pin down.

The eLC funding year runs from 1 September to 31 August, so it has already been allocated for this year.

My business is a registered eLC supplier. This year we experienced an unprecedented last-minute rush to spend eLC funding during July, just before schools shut down for the summer holiday, and we had a huge backlog of orders - which then became a cashflow problem while we waited for teachers to return to work in September. It would be helpful if spending was more evenly distributed over the budget year - and there is no reason why it should not be. Here's our own info page on eLCs:

http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/elcfaqs.htm

The official Curriulum Online info is at:

http://www.curriculumonline.gov.uk/AboutELCs/WhatareeLCs.htm
http://www.curriculumonline.gov.uk/Howto/E...ngResources.htm

You can only spend the money on resources that have been registered at the Curriculum Online site. We find this a bit restrictive as a Modern Foreign Languages specialist supplier, as most of the resources that we stock are produced abroad, and foreign software developers/suppliers don't understand the registration process - so they ignore it. We have also found that the evaluation agencies that COL has appointed are not doing a very good job in our subject area. Very few resources have been properly evaluated and some have been inadequately evaluated.

Thanks Graham - really useful advice as usual. I will be picking your brains again in the New year if I may

Thanks! Please don't hesitate to contact me.

In anticipation of next year's EUROCALL conference:
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku!

In the language of the Land of my Fathers:
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

In the language of the land where my wife was born:
Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain Faoi Mhaise!

In the hardest language that I have ever had to learn:
Kellemes karácsony ünnepeket és boldog új évet kivánok!